Haunted Hello
by MonDieu666
Summary: Daryl is haunted by what happened to Beth but in this new, unpredictable world, nothing stays lost.
1. Chapter 1

Beth wasn't lost, she was late. At least that's what always seemed to be the case.

Sometimes she felt so close that she could hear snippets of their conversation but that must have been her imagination. How long had it been since she'd eaten or drunk anything? She couldn't remember anything since the food at the hospital. Food they'd offered in exchange for her soul. Something that was never theirs to ask for.

Other times she felt like she was separated by a thick fog. It made her sluggish and her feet drag but she followed on with almost dogged certainty that this was the way her family had gone. Maggie, Glenn, Rick. Daryl.

Daryl.

It was his face that she conjured every time she felt her strength fail. She found that when she thought of him, those were her moments of clarity. When she felt the most grounded.

He had come for her so she would be damned if she wasn't going to come for him.

There were walkers though. So many walkers. Half the reason she'd fallen behind was so much of her time spent standing still. Beth couldn't fight them, she'd lost her knife in Atlanta amongst other things. And so she hid. When she stopped slogging forward, the spark faded somewhat. It wasn't patience but a pervasive apathy.

It was those moments when it suddenly seemed so very easy and desirable to sit down, to give up. But she never did. When the last walker went past her, she put her hands against the grass, felt the prickle of twigs against her palms and pushed herself up.

She just had to keep going and eventually she would catch up with them.

And one day she did. It was a beautiful day with a sky that stretched forever and heat that stuck against your skin. In a different lifetime, a different Beth would have taken her horse, ridden out into the fields and laid down. She would stare up into the sun until it stung and wondered if her eyes were a mirror for the endless blue that was above.

Her trembling weak hands reached out to brush against a tree that rose defiant and strong. The one thing that would most certainly still be here when this disaster reached its conclusions, be it in a year, in ten or in a hundred, would be the wild majesty that was nature.

Her hand never made contact. Across a clearing, sitting in the dirt was Daryl. After so long without as much as a glimpse of a live human and only dead walkers to guide her, Beth couldn't breathe.

There was a defeated slump to his shoulders and he was looking away from her. It stopped her where she stood, the sight of him brought back so many memories. A rush of confusing, churning emotions. She hadn't been able to define the cause when it first rose up from her stomach to make her chest tight. She'd been drunk so it'd been easy to dismiss.

And these last few days – or had it been weeks? – putting one foot in front of the other had been her only focus. But now the sight of him hunched over, matted hair pressed to his forehead, jerked her to attention.

Beth remember locked eyes across a dimly lit kitchen, a flare of intensity and one word. One sound really.

" _Oh."_

It might have changed everything if only they'd had the time.

Electricity surged through Beth and she began stumbling forward. It was the fastest she had travelled in a long while.

Daryl didn't even flinch, just pressed the cigarette into the top of his hand. Beth swore and picked up her pace. She was out and out running now.

Daryl was crying. It tore through her like a knife as she raced towards him. Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes but never quite spilling down her cheeks. She'd seen Daryl cry before but not like this. Not with broken despair.

She skidded to a stop beside him and dropped to her knees. Because she was who she was, her attention was drawn immediately to the wound in his hand. He didn't even seem to have registered the pain. The burn was deep and would scar. With a gasp she reached out and clasped his hand in hers. As if her touch alone could heal.

She lifted her head then to finally gaze upon a person whose existence had kept her going. She didn't know what she could even say to capture the profound gravitas of the moment.

But Daryl stared straight through her, his expression raw and aching but devoid of recognition.

Because Beth Greene wasn't there. Beth Greene was dead.

…

Daryl's head fell back against the tree. His throat was raw from holding down his screams. He knew he would never have deserved anything as pure as Beth but to have her stolen away, not just from him, but from the world was a cruel blow. Maybe he was cursed? Whenever he dared to care about anything, it seemed to end in dust and blood.

He flexed his hand and peered at the burn. It would scar, just another one amongst many on his body. He shouldn't have done it. Beth would have called him an idiot but he wanted this pain on his body. A physical manifestation. He wanted people to be able to look and see he had been wounded and hurt even if they didn't know what had happened.

His hand pulsed in burning agony, suddenly wrapped in pressure and then there was an inexplicable cool sensation. Daryl flexed his fingers and the movement seemed resistant. His eyebrows furrowed but a light breeze whipped around him, making the leaves dance and shadows flutter on the ground. Light flared at the edge of his vision which made him blink and pinch his nose.

He was dehydrated and his senses were starting to play tricks. That was a bad sign. He needed water and soon. Thinking of basic necessities sharpened him and with unsteady legs, he hauled himself upright. He used the tree to support him far more than he'd like to admit.

Daryl rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. They would still be red from the crying and if he re-joined the group too soon then someone would spot it. Carol and Rick were both too perceptive by half and they had been watching him like a hawk since Atlanta.

He decided that he would fall in step with Maggie or Sasha. Those two were too grief stricken to pay him much mind. Daryl didn't know why people kept trying to talk to him about it, making assumptions about what Beth had meant to him. He didn't even know himself what she had meant. All he knew was that in the last few days before he'd lost her, lost her the first time anyway, something in his chest tightened when she smiled.

Daryl didn't want to think about it. There was no point now. He wanted to slink off into the wilderness and lick his wounds in peace and quiet. He started a slow pace back towards the group, reflexively scanning the environment for walkers or for food.

He told himself that this would be the last weakness he would allow himself. A great deal of goodness had been snuffed from the world when Beth had died but Daryl knew they had also lost her strength. He took a shuddery breath.

" _You're going to miss me so bad when I'm gone."_

Those words were a taunt, threat and promise, all the more bitter now it had come to pass. He did miss her. More than he'd missed anything ever before.

…

Beth trailed Daryl in a daze. Her brain felt foggy and she had to fight to complete a coherent thought. She remembered the hospital and she could also recall plunging the scissors straight into Dawn's shoulder. That was always crystal clear in her memories. It had been afterwards that tended to blur together. It wasn't the lack of water or the lack of food. Beth apparently had no need for either. It was starting to make sense.

She had been wrong on a magnificent scale but for some reason she couldn't muster any surprise or fear. Without paying much attention she managed to stay close to Daryl. The strong surge of emotion she had experienced when she first saw him had started to fade.

Shock? She registered the thought distantly. Could she suffer that in her current condition? 

"I'm dead." She mumbled the words. There was no cathartic release or epiphany moment that followed her saying it out loud. It was the first time she had consciously spoken out loud.

"I'm dead!" she repeated, louder and more emphatically.

Daryl paused and looked around, his fingers tightened on the crossbow.

Another bolt of sensation tore up Beth's body. "Daryl?" she called, louder than was wise.

He didn't react. Daryl stared straight past her, body expectant.

Beth's shoulders slumped and she lingered in disappointed silence while Daryl determined it was safe to go on.

She traced tentative fingers across her forehead. Half of her expected to find the gunshot wound but her skin was smooth and perfect. Her vision ran briefly, a dusky cacophony of colour and movement. A migraine roared into life and Beth hissed her discomfort.

"Ok. Don't think about getting shot then. I get it." The pain didn't abate with those words and Beth felt slightly abashed to be talking out loud but then promptly realised that embarrassment was also ridiculous.

"I'm dead," she said for a third time, as if scolding herself.

Daryl took a long time to meet up with the group but when he did finally catch them up, a smile spilled across her face. Her heart raced when she caught sight of Maggie across the group. How could she have a pulse if she was dead? It might be an illusion or a trick of the mind but that didn't matter right now.

Maggie was dirty and withdrawn. She registered Daryl's arrival but not much more. Beth's moved to her side, careful not to touch anyone. Daryl hadn't been affected by her hands on his but she maintained that space all the same until she reached Maggie. The obvious sadness that radiated from her, from her eyes to the set of her shoulders, had Beth reaching out to her sister. Her fingers curled around her wrist. For a second there was no reaction and then Maggie's eyes flicked downwards. She careful shrugged her shoulders, uncomfortable without knowing why, and took an uneasy step to the side.

Beth let her wrist slide out of her grasp. Maggie had sensed her! From what Beth saw, it seemed like Maggie had picked up her presence the same way a person would get a shiver down their spine.

This was entirely outside Beth's realm of knowledge. Until she had died, she hadn't even thought ghosts were real and yet here she was. Was the world littered with the souls of the departed? Could she see other ghosts? Or was she here by herself and if so why her? Her mind churned as each new question sprung up.

She shook her head, trying to quiet her brain. She needed to think of one thing at a time and not get carried away. To Beth, the most important thing seemed to be that Maggie had felt her touch in some capacity. Glenn had gone up to his wife having noticed her skittish behaviour and was murmuring reassuring words. Beth moved back a respectful distance. They didn't need an audience for their private whispers.

She was desperate to know if that was something she could develop or if this was as good as it got. Daryl filled her vision on the outskirts of the group, lonely and broken. He angled himself away from everyone. It steeled her. He reminded her sharply of a Daryl Dixon she thought was long gone. Cagey and wary and totally isolated. He had been like this following Merle's death and even her father's. Daryl carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and maybe now he had burdened himself with the blame for her death.

Beth watched him with a tilted head and engrossed fascination. She was to blame for her death. Her or Dawn but definitely not Daryl. He had done all he could to protect her and now he needed some protection of his own.

She didn't know what was going on but Beth was going to figure it out. Beth was going to haunt Daryl Dixon until he was happy again.

…

It wasn't long before Beth encountered her first problem. The first, tremendous crack of thunder vibrated her body down to her bones. She had never felt anything like that and she was no stranger to the wild power of a summer storm. It was the first sign something wasn't right. The flash of lightening that followed a few minutes later caused her skin to fizz as if it had absorbed the electricity itself.

Her friends and family barricaded themselves in a barn but Beth was outside. Unable to summon the substance to get inside and unable to walk through the walls like every ghost movie had indicated she would be able to do. She felt like pudding. Too solid to get through the walls but certainly not strong enough to affect physical change.

The storm was getting closer and the air was charged with impending calamity. Even amidst all the chaos and the howling winds, she still heard when a walker groan rent the air. Years of experience had kept her in tune with that chilling noise.

They broke the first line of trees suddenly between one shot of lightening and the next. One second there was nothing and the next a hoard of corpses were shambling towards the barn.

Beth started screaming, a soul-deep howl that came to close to matching the fury of nature. The lightening sparked again, so close that her skin burned and split apart. Beth was still screaming when the wind carried her away.

…

For a long time there was only a spinning nightmare of black, grey and the sound of wind. Beth half thought it was the loudest thing she had ever heard.

And just as suddenly as she had been swept away, it came to an abrupt stop and she was standing in a pristine white room. At least, she assumed it was a room – Beth couldn't actually see the ceiling or any walls. The endless white made her squint and that hammering pain that started where she'd been shot started up again, resonating outwards.

"Look what the cat dragged in."

The drawling southern accent was familiar to her.

"Merle?" Bath spun to face the noise and almost succumbed to the dizzying sensation that followed.

The older man was standing in a relaxed fashion a little way off. He was comfortably lighting a cigarette and running his eyes over her. Beth took the opportunity his silence offered to quickly size him up. He had both his hands, no obvious injuries and the same careless grin that put her on edge.

He took a deep draw of his cigarette before waving it in her direction. "I know you, don't I?"

Beth nodded. Her voice had deserted her after so many weeks of disuse. Or maybe it was the storm. Beth could taste copper and acid at the back of her throat. Had she swallowed some lightening when she was screaming?

"You're the blonde girl who almost shot me."

Beth rubbed the back of her neck and shook her head at that inaccurate retelling. "I shot the roof to make you stop fighting."

Merle pursed his lips and glared at her as if her version was wildly offensive. "It's possible," he conceded after a moment. He inhaled another lungful of smoke that didn't make him cough before expelling it back out into the air. Beth eyed it distastefully.

Seeing her disdain, Merle smiled and offered her one.

"No thanks," Beth declined politely.

"Why? Worried they're gonna kill you?" His question was flat but his raised eyebrow hinted at some veiled mockery.

"So we _are_ dead?" Beth was furious that her voice shook. She knew she had died weeks back but somehow, saying it to someone else made it different.

Merle gave a one shoulder shrug. "Seems to be the case. What happened to you?"

Beth's hand fluttered upwards before she managed to catch herself. Trying to mimic his air of nonchalance Beth said, "shot in the head."

Merle nodded as if impressed. "Respectable way to go out if you have to. What I mean is why you here? Here specifically?"

"I'm not sure where here even is?" Beth was exasperated now. Even in death Merle Dixon was a pain in the ass. She resisted asking him if this was heaven. Merle would have just laughed and if he was the only other person about then Beth could pretty safely bet this wasn't the paradise her daddy's bible had promised.

Merle appeared to be considering how much to give away. Beth had to bite her tongue not to swear at him. As much as she didn't want Merle to have the answers, he probably did. He'd been dead a good deal longer than her.

Merle dropped his cigarette and ground it out. The ash and stub was gone as if it had never existed when he moved his boot.

"Far as I can tell, we're in between."

"In between?" Beth repeated dumbly.

"You deaf girl? That's what I just said!"

"What do you mean 'in between'?"

Merle glanced around. "Well, in my uneducated opinion, seems to me that only folk with unfinished business or a dissatisfaction with how they went out seem to be here."

Beth processed his words, trying to not discount them on face value. It sounded insane. But just a few years back she would have said the same if someone had told her that dead people were going to be roaming the earth.

"It's not just us then?"

Merle snorted. "No, girlie. Not just us so that might make you breathe a little easier." Merle chuckled at his own joke but Beth was excited.

"Have you seen my dad?" she asked eagerly.

Merle must have taken pity on her because he didn't play his previous game of pretending to weigh up whether to tell her. "Nah, sorry."

Beth's exhaled sharply. Despite Merle's joke about her need to breathe, her body still seemed to be going through the motions. Her mind was a mess of thoughts chasing and snapping at each other as they fought for her attention. She tried to focus and think about what Merle had said about unfinished business and dissatisfaction. Would her father have fallen into those categories? He loved her and Maggie but he had made peace with the thought of dying. He knew that after he lost his leg he was living on borrowed time. And then when the disease had run rampant through the prison, he had risked his life to bring comfort to those sick. No, Beth concluded, her father wouldn't be here. She hoped his faith had steered him in the right direction and that he was somewhere comfortable and surrounded by people he loved. She prayed he didn't know she was dead yet.

"Who have you seen?" Beth asked, her voice husky with unshed tears.

"Most folks, I don't recognise. They're either lost and confused or panicking. Most don't know they're dead. You're the first sensible conversation I've had in a while."

Beth ran a hand through her hair. "You don't seem too worried about your situation," she observed and regrated her statement. She needed Merle's information and didn't want to make him angry.

If anything he seemed flattered. "Not many ways my story was gonna end. Less options still after the world ended. 'Sides, we all die at some point or another."

There was something oddly reassuring with his matter of fact approach. Talking to Merle felt perfectly normal and mundane.

"Have you seen people we know?"

"You remember Dale? He shows up from time to time. Less often these days than earlier."

"Dale!" Beth echoed. If she could just talk to Dale.

"Don't get too excited there. I haven't seen him a long while. I think whatever he was worried about when he first died is not so much an issue anymore."

Beth cast her mind back. When Dale had died, they had just decided to kill Randal and he was frightened that the group was losing their humanity to this dystopic new world. After the prison, maybe they had restored his faith. Beth hoped so anyway. They had still done terrible things but they had struggled to balance the bad with the good.

"I've seen Lori few times too. She seems to be most concerned with her kids."

"They're fine," Beth quickly offered. At least they had been before Beth had gotten blown away.

Merle smiled crookedly. "She knows, she's seen them."

"So you can go back?"

"Figured that's where you came from just now."

Beth nodded before adding, "got blown away by a storm."

Merle laughed outright at that. His genuine amusement earning her a deep belly laugh. Beth didn't know what was so funny. If anything it just proved how ineffectual she was. A wraith and not much more.

"Oh don't pout, girlie. You can probably go back again. It's different for everyone."

That caught Beth's attention. "What do you mean?"

"I ain't no expert," Merle caveated.

"You are literally my only option," Beth stated.

"That's real flattering," Merle drawled.

"Stop being difficult and talk or…" Beth trailed off.

"Hard to threaten a dead man, isn't it?"

"Can _you_ go back?" Beth demanded.

Merle's face wrinkled like he'd sucked on a lemon. "No." He spat the word at her.

"I can tell you how Daryl is. Tell me how to get back and I'll keep an eye on Daryl for you." Beth didn't feel it was necessary to tell Merle that she would have checked on him regardless, that Daryl meant something to her now. If Merle couldn't go back then he didn't know how they'd spent time together. Beth was secretly and cruelly glad that Merle was separated from his brother. The idea of him spying on those moments they had shared made her skin crawl. He was a judgemental, mean spirited man whose only redeeming quality was the depth of his love for his brother but even that was conditional.

Beth stood her ground and waited while Merle mulled over his options.

"Fine. It's like I said, everyone's different. Some people must be on the ground full time and others are stuck here. Like me. Most people seem to move on completely. And some people can go between the two places."

"And you think the people who haven't moved on still have issues they need to resolve?"

"I think that plays a part for some people. Like Lori, wanting to make sure her children are well and good. Others are just mad as hell to be dead but they seem too caught up in their anger to do much more than lurk at the peripheral. The Governor goes past like a wailing banshee every so often but he doesn't stop to chat and as you can understand, I don't try and persuade him to take tea with me."

"The Governor," she hissed out. She had forgotten about him. Fear and resentment flooded her system.

"Careful. Don't make him your reason to be here. He becomes your unfinished business, you'll be stuck here and not able to go back."

"He killed my father." Thoughts of vengeance swam before her. She didn't know what she could do to a dead man but she could try to even the score.

"He killed lots of folk's fathers, I suspect. I wouldn't worry too much about him, he's plenty miserable here on his own. If you didn't remember him until just then, then he ain't your anchor."

"Anchor?" Beth was starting to feel like all she could do was parrot Merle like an idiot.

"That's what Dale called it. Seemed as good a word as any. It's what keeps you tethered to the land of the living. Your sister is still alive I suppose. Unless you got a boy since I last was around."

"A boy?" Beth spluttered unconvincingly. It was too close to the truth. It was a boy, though she would never claim him as her own. It didn't even occur to her that Maggie might have been what kept her linked to her old life. Maggie had Glenn to take care of her. Daryl needed his own guardian angel.

Merle's eyes narrowed and Beth wondered if he was as perceptive as Daryl.

"Your business is your own. Just as long as you tell me how Daryl is getting along."

"I'll tell you anything you want to know about him if you get me back."

"And if you can't get back here again, I want you to watch out for him."

"I can do that," Beth was able to say with absolute sincerity. "Now tell me the rules of this ghost business. Can I touch things? Can they see me?"

"Sit down, girlie. This might take a while."

 **AN: Hello everyone. Another foray into the world of Daryl and Beth – I couldn't leave the fandom alone. My contribution to this fandom are my stories and without them I feel kind of obsolete.**

 **I anticipate this is going to be a shorter story and I will update when I get time. I know it has started off in a dark place but I hope to have some lightness, happiness and laughter in this story. Thanks to Adele for helping me naming this song and putting me absolutely in the right frame to begin this new story. Please send me any songs that make you think of Bethyl. I haven't had a chance to go through any other stories since Beth died so this might be similar to other stories out there, and it is completely unintentional.**

 **Please let me know what you think.**

 **MD666**


	2. Chapter 2

Beth scrubbed her hands across her face in frustration and slumped into a cross legged position on the floor.

The ground was cool and hard beneath her. She still had yet to determine what it was made of since she'd never seen any surface maintain such a pristine seamless white. Probably something to do with where she was. Which was purgatory or limbo or whatever you might define it as.

Beth was tempted to use the word hell if Merle didn't shut up soon.

"You ain't trying hard enough!"

Beth fixed him with a steely glare. "I am!" she retorted. "You're just a bad teacher," she added spitefully.

"Can only work with what I've got," Merle spat back, folding his arms.

That was hard to argue with. Merle had promised to get her back to the land of the living if she promised to look out for Daryl. That had been an easy thing to agree to. She hadn't known the hunter very well until they had been separated when the prison fell and they'd spent long periods of time alone together.

But he was… her friend at the very least. Beth felt a tug in her stomach thinking about him. His face was the clearest in her mind. She still remembered the look of anguish on his face as he shed those tears on that cloudless day.

Beth was too exhausted to delve into the odd pull she felt towards him, that invasive eagerness to see him again and protect him.

"I'm sorry," Beth murmured, "I'm just frustrated. I thought I'd be back by now."

Merle released his arms from their sulking cross against his body. Instead he pulled out a packet of cigarettes. "Never said it was going to be easy." He still sounded defensive but at least he wasn't snarling at her.

He offered the pack to Beth who declined. Merle wasn't being polite, he got a kick out of Beth saying no even though she was technically already dead.

Beth caught his smirk and wrinkled her nose in his direction. "Still gross," she said by way of explanation.

"Suit yourself," Merle replied with a shrug, smoke streaming out of his nose and mouth. "Should we try again or you giving up?"

"No!" Beth snapped back. Merle managed to make even an innocent question sound infuriating.

"Well then, maybe you want to stand the hell up and have a go?"

Beth sat a beat longer before pushing herself up. Her knees had begun to ache from sitting on the ground. Another thing she didn't understand about her new state. She could still experience certain physical sensations.

She swayed slightly from foot to foot, trying to centre her weight. Beth closed her eyes with a sigh and emptied her mind. From what Merle had been told, getting back was about emotionally connecting with what you had left behind.

Beth had been using Maggie's face and Daryl's pain as her anchor.

"It might not be enough?" Merle mused. He sounded knowing, like he could see Daryl's sharp blue eyes in her mind's eye.

"Now you tell me," Beth grumbled. Her cheeks felt hot. She had kept her thoughts on Daryl largely from his gruff older brother. She didn't want Merle mocking her mercilessly.

"It's one thing to remember that you love 'em and want to go back and see them but do you remember why?"

"Course I do! They're my family."

"That's not a good why. Otherwise why ain't everyone here? What do you wanna achieve by going back? What do you want to change?"

Beth swallowed thickly. What did she want to change? Being dead. Light flared briefly behind her closed eyes and she heard a flurry of voices roar around her but it passed in an instant and was replaced once more with the sterile silence of limbo.

But that was impossible. So what did she want to achieve? She wanted to see Daryl again. Talk to him if possible.

And why? Well because of one little word. A word that had so much promise and confusion and apprehension attached.

 _Oh_.

Beth felt a sensation like hot water running down the length of her spine. She snapped to attention, eyes flying open.

It was night time – her eyes blinked rapidly to adjust to the extreme change in light. She's spent an indeterminate amount of time in a featureless wasteland with nothing but Merle Dixon to look at.

And now she was in a dining room with candle light and pasta and Daryl.

Beth's stomach dropped and she experienced a flood of nerves seeing him again. She had practically lived with him for weeks – it was ridiculous that she would be scared to see the man she had called names and flipped off not so very long ago. But she was. It was mitigated by the fact that he couldn't see her.

Her fear was somewhat eroded by the sight of Daryl at a proper table that was set and everything. Beth quickly realised that he wasn't alone in this house. He was sitting at a table with two men that she didn't recognise.

That focused her thoughts sharply. Where _was_ Daryl? She cast her gaze around the room. She was struck by how normal everything looked. The house appeared lived in and well maintained.

Beth took a tentative step, afraid to venture too far and lose Daryl after so much effort to get back here. When she wasn't sucked immediately back into oblivion, she moved cautiously around. The kitchen was adjacent to the dining room, easily viewable in this open plan home.

Beth saw something that made her jaw drop. The microwave had a glowing digital clock on it. This house had power. Forgetting her previous hesitation, she hurriedly went into the kitchen. She pressed her hand against the fridge. It was strange to touch with this ghostly hand but Beth could still feel the hum of a working fridge against her palm. They had power and not just generators either. There was no way they would allow this careless use of power if there was just a generator.

Beth returned to the room staring in astonishment at these two men. From her new vantage point she could see out the window. They pulled the blinds but through a slit in the window she could see another home across the street with lights on too. There were people walking in the streets.

Where was she?

Beth ran a hand through her hair. How much time had passed while she'd been away? Daryl didn't seem to have aged dramatically so not that long. But why was he here with two strangers without the rest of the group. Had something happened to Maggie?

Beth redirected her attention to the men in front of her, still completely oblivious to her presence. There was little conversation and a tension in the air but it didn't feel like danger so much as it felt uncomfortable.

They were exchanging small talk. Beth could have keeled over. She'd never seen Daryl engage in small talk in the years she'd known him. The person who came close to eliciting it from him was Zach. Daryl had talked about survival or maybe about things that meant something with people he was close with.

Beth remembered their drunken night on the porch when he'd spoken of his past. One of the first indicators she'd had that the hunter might actually trust her.

And it wasn't like Daryl was pulling his weight in this conversation. The men were trying to lure him into talking but he largely responded in grunts around mouthful of food. It made Beth shake her head, a hint of a smile crossing her lips for the first time in far too long.

The men were well groomed and put together. Beth guessed they'd been living safely for some time. Something about the way the flicked their eyes to each other, communicating silently, suggested they were a couple.

Daryl wasn't verbose with his responses but he was actually making an effort to engage. It was a poor one but it was almost unprecedented. Beth realised with a start that whoever they were, Daryl liked them. She reverently wish that they knew him just a little bit better so they'd appreciate the magnitude of Daryl's behaviour here, and hopefully ignore his tendency to eat with his fingers no matter the available utensils.

The men made significant eye contact and the man with the brown head stood up and asked Daryl follow him.

Beth was pretty sure her expression mirrored Daryl's – bemused and wary but when the hunter complied, Beth followed.

The pair of them followed the man – Beth still hadn't caught his name – down the stairs into the basement. There was a haphazard sheet draped over a bike.

It was tugged away to reveal a pretty beaten up, old motorcycle. Beth could have shrugged but Daryl looked enraptured. She knew how he felt about his bike and that he'd had to leave it behind at the prison.

The man was talking to Daryl about fixing it up, finding people to bring into the community but Beth was only half listening. This man had only know Daryl for a few weeks but had performed an act of kindness and included him. Beth should have been pleased and had warm fuzzy happiness. But she felt numb, distant and jealous.

What was she here for if Daryl didn't need her? He was a good person and even if he was rough around the edges, people were going to see that.

The world around her blinked and whirred like the static on TV and for an instant she caught a glimpse of that white eternity she'd just escaped.

"No!" she hissed loudly, neither man reacting to her. Beth clenched her fist and focused on the reality around her. There was a searing flash of light and her body jerked in pain as if lightening had shot through her but her vision began to stabilise.

Daryl and the man were walking up the stairs. Beth hastened to follow them, hands shaking and legs numb.

Daryl said his awkward but polite farewell to the two men and then left. Beth trailed a few feet behind him. It was too dark to see where they were but it looked like a typical suburban setting. Houses, white picket fences and the quiet noises of the evening.

Daryl fished out a cigarette and Beth caught sight of his hand. The burn he'd inflicted on himself was mostly healed and well on its way to being a scar. The sight of it jolted her out of the brief surge of jealously she had felt in that garage.

The smoke from the cigarette trailed behind him and Beth breathed in the harsh and scratchy scent. It smelt familiar and alive. She wished she could hit it out of his hand but Merle hadn't heard of anyone being able to touch the living.

"You shouldn't do that," she lectured but Daryl just kept walking.

"No matter," Beth quipped, "you didn't listen to me at the beginning when I was alive and that changed."

Daryl stopped off in front of a house and walked up the stairs. He opened the door and went inside. There was movement to the side and Beth jumped when Michonne emerged out of the darkness. Beth felt a rush of affection for the woman. Michonne looked different. In fact so did Daryl. It dawned on Beth. They both looked clean. It stood to reason that if there was decent electricity, they had running water.

"You on guard?" Daryl asked gruffly. Michonne nodded wordlessly.

That was interesting. So far Beth had just seen a peaceful community, which was a miracle in of itself but Michonne was still on guard. She didn't look over concerned but they had all had ingrained habits from living in constant danger.

"Right. I'm going to sleep then."

Beth figured it couldn't be very late but Daryl had a weary stoop to his shoulders. Michonne opened her mouth to say something but clearly thought better of it. Instead she nodded, not that Daryl saw it with his back turned.

"Night," Michonne said simply.

Beth stayed behind him as Daryl went up to the second storey of the house and pulled down the steps to get to the attic. Of course Daryl would be sleeping in the attic. Beth hesitated on the precipice. This was Daryl's space and he wouldn't appreciate the intruder even if he couldn't see her or was even aware of her existence.

Beth could explore the rest of the house or find Maggie but she wasn't ready to leave him just yet. So she ventured further into the sparse room. The state of decoration was likely no reflection on the amount of time they'd been there. Daryl had no use for things that weren't practical. Even in his nominated cell at the prison, the space had been devoted to weapons, hunting and books about weapons and hunting.

Beth rolled her eyes when Daryl pulled the pillow of the makeshift camp-bed and onto the floor.

"You're an idiot," she noted with her hands on her hips.

To her extreme surprise, Daryl stopped what he was doing and looked around. His stare never locked onto her, Beth knew exactly what it felt like to be pinned with that gaze, but it was definitely in her general direction. Had he heard her?

"Daryl?" it came out as a whisper. Beth had suddenly forgotten how to speak. He was going to lay down soon and stop paying attention. Beth felt a rush of panic.

"Daryl," she repeated, louder and clearer. Daryl ran his hand through his hair. "You're tired," he rebuked himself, eyes beginning to drop to the ground.

" _DARYL_!" Beth screamed. If she had been alive, every walker in a mile radius would have heard.

Daryl jerked, stumbling to his feet and reached for his knife. The knife he'd given her.

"Someone there?"

 **AN: Hi all – got lots of questions asking if "Beth is really dead?" "How will they interact?" "Will they be able to touch?" etc. Can't give anything away but would you all trust me? This is supernatural fix-it fic.**


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl felt a bit silly standing there in a darkened, empty room with a knife out. But the hairs on the back of his neck were on end. His hooded eyes continued scanning for the threat that his logical mind couldn't perceive.

"Hello?" he asked warily, beginning to feel more absurd by the second.

The thing was, he could have sworn he'd heard a familiar voice. It sounded like Beth.

The abrupt realisation that he wasn't looking for an intruder, he was looking for Beth was like a glass of ice water in the face. With shaking hands, he shoved the knife away.

"I'm goin' mad," Daryl muttered to himself. He rubbed a hand through his already messy hair. He should lie down and go to sleep but the walls loomed in like a cage.

Daryl plucked up his jacket and pack of cigarettes, trudging back down the stairs and past the living room.

"I'm going out," he grunted at Michonne. She raised an eyebrow which asked a lot of silent questions but Daryl ignored her.

As soon as he was out in the quiet night air, he shrugged on his jacket. The temperature was mild enough but Daryl still felt cold. With fumbling hands he pulled out a cigarette. He should have left it alone, he had already smoked his rationed allotment for the day. That was one good thing about Alexandria, regular cigarettes.

Once the nicotine hit his system, he could concede that there were other decent things about living in the community. Tall, strong walls for one thing. Aaron and his partner didn't seem like bad sorts either – Daryl was seriously considering their offer to go out and look for other people.

And the best aspect of living in Alexandria was that it seemed like a fairly safe place to get his fucking shit together. If he was going to hear voices and go completely insane then this wasn't such a bad place to do it.

With his free hand he scrubbed over his forehead. Daryl was trying not to think about Beth. He didn't understand what reaction it evoked. Picturing her smile made his fingers twitch.

Knowing she was dead made his stomach ache.

The hollowness was beginning to gnaw away in his chest and he shoved it out of his head. Daryl wasn't efficient at analysing his feelings at the best of times so why bother now? If he stubbornly ignored it all, real or hallucinatory, then it would all be fine.

"How long was I dead before you stole the knife off my body?" an indifferent voice asked behind him.

Daryl's spine straightened, a flush spreading through his body. He swivelled in astonishment.

Beth was standing a few feet away from him, arms crossed and eyes pointed towards the ground. He could tell by the set of her jaw that she was annoyed, which didn't surprise him. If he was skilled at anything, it was frustrating Beth.

It was Beth right down to the set of her feet. Even the clothes were the same. The ones she was wearing when she'd died. Died. It was impossible.

"I mean technically, it _was_ a gift," she complained, seemingly unaware of his wide-eyed scrutiny.

"Beth?" It came out timid and tentative.

Beth's gaze sprung upward and she stared at him in outright shock. Daryl thought her surprise was slightly unwarranted considering she was the dead one. If anyone should have their mouth open in astonishment it was him.

"You can see me?" Beth was breathy and excited. She took a step forward.

"No," Daryl blurted out. Beth's nose wrinkled in confusion. "I mean, obviously. Obviously I can see you. But you ain't real."

"What?" Beth tilted her head. She paused mid-step.

"You ain't real!"

"Repeating yourself doesn't mean you make sense!" Beth snapped, her tone heating.

"You died," Daryl growled. He realised he was talking loudly and for anyone looking on, he would appear to be having a conversation with himself.

"And?" Beth said with a shrug.

" _And?_ " Daryl spluttered, perturbed by her casual attitude. "You're dead! How are we talking?"

That seemed to make her pause and consider. "I don't properly understand it. Something about anchors and unfinished business."

"Or I'm insane?" Daryl suggested, remembering his cigarette dangling between his fingers. He lifted it up for another draw to settle his frayed nerves but it had mostly burned down.

"You shouldn't smoke," she chided.

Daryl jerked his stare away from his wasted smoke to Beth. He watched her incredulously. She was giving him health advice? Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright. She seemed down right pleased to see him. But there was something strange about her. Her hair wasn't moving in the wind. It shifted around her shoulders when she talked but there was a light breeze and it wasn't have any effect on her.

He was fixated by that fact. It really solidified the realisation that whatever Beth was, she wasn't in front of him. Not really.

He shook his head. His mind was playing tricks on him, probably because he refused to think about what her death had meant to him.

"I'm here, Daryl." Her voice was soft and vulnerable. Daryl didn't often hear Beth sound vulnerable. She was surprisingly tough. Certainly stronger than he had first given her credit for. She had sounded like this on the porch of the cabin when they'd been drunk on moonshine. When she'd talked about dying.

"I might be seeing you but that doesn't mean you're here," he clarified, suddenly unable to look directly at her.

"Daryl, please."

"This is all in my head," Daryl went on, staring doggedly at the ground.

"It's not," she insisted, "I don't know what's happening. I died, that's true."

"You got shot," Daryl added.

Beth hissed in pain.

"Are you alright?" Daryl asked immediately.

"Can you not mention the shooting thing? Every time I'm reminded, I get a splitting headache."

Daryl snorted. "Suppose that stands to reason."

Beth cracked a weak smile and Daryl instantly groaned. "That's probably not a topic we should joke about it."

"No, it's fine. It's a weird situation. You probably need some time to process it all," Beth offered.

Daryl wasn't convinced that his mind hadn't conjured Beth's image up yet but he was going in circles at the moment. Either he was defying the laws of reality and talking to Beth directly or he was having a debate with himself, and both could be stalwart.

"If you're real, can I touch you?" The question rolled out of his mouth before he had really thought it through. It was an idiotic thing to ask someone that might be a delusion but all too clearly he remembered her hand slipping into his. He recalled the easy and natural way she had initiated the contact and the undefinable thrill he'd felt when she'd leaned against him.

"I, uh, don't know." Beth's reply was stammered. Her cheeks flushed an even brighter red.

"You don't have to," Daryl hastened to assuage her, beginning to feel painfully uncomfortable. "It's just, if you're not just inside my head-"

Beth cut him off. "I'd like to try." She seemed to suck in a breath before holding out her hand. Daryl stared at it for a long moment before roughly reaching out to grab it. His hand found no purchase. There was brief resistance as if his skin had met a dense fog but ultimately he felt nothing solid.

"Damnit!" Beth cursed, voice breaking.

Daryl had anticipated that outcome but it didn't stop the wave of disappointment that roiled over him.

"I should go back inside," Daryl mumbled. He turned his back on her which was incredibly hard to manage. "We can talk more tomorrow. If I can still see you," he added as an afterthought.

Beth didn't reply so he trudged back inside, his thoughts a snarled storm of darkness, self-doubt and, overwhelmingly, the frantic wish that somehow Beth Greene was back in his life.

…

Beth furiously scrubbed at her eyes and willed her tears away as she watched his retreating back. Beth hadn't really given much thought to what would happen when Daryl saw her but outright disbelief hadn't been anticipated. She had been so consumed with getting his attention that she didn't know what to do or say once she had it.

Daryl had never been the easiest person to talk to but now he was mostly convinced she was an illusion cooked up out of his own insanity. If Beth had kept her head straight then she could have said something to convince him. She could have talked about Merle or her experience being dead. She could have explained what had happened, to the best of her understanding, in a manner that was reasonable and believable.

But Beth had forgotten what it felt like to be pinned by those blue eyes and how quickly her thoughts had fled. She had been right back in that kitchen where he'd stolen her words then too. Mother fucking _oh_.

She couldn't afford to let another mistake like that happen again. If she was being tied to this plane of existence by Daryl, then she didn't even want to think about what would happen if he let her go.

Beth's heart was heavy with melancholy too. She knew exactly what her physical capabilities were in her current condition but when Daryl had asked to touch her, Beth wanted nothing more than to have his skin against hers. And at the beginning when she'd felt the first brush, the first spark, she was positive it was going to be different. But then his hand had passed through as if she were nothing more than a hologram.

She'd let her emotions get the better of her, she'd underestimated the effect that the mercurial and stoic Daryl would have on her. Beth took another deep breath and bit her lip hard. She still didn't understand what Daryl meant to her. She was dead and she was more confused than ever.

If this was going to work, she had to go back to basics and start simple. With absolute clarity she could say she cared about Daryl because he was her friend and a part of her group. A part that needed her assistance and support. That was the right place to begin. Anything more than that would just muddy the waters and lead to disaster.

If she focused and stayed on task, then she could persuade Daryl that she existed and that she was there to help. With this new resolve, Beth squared her shoulders and walked towards the house Daryl had entered.

It was going to be a productive day tomorrow.

 **AN: Hoping to get a little bit more into the comedy now that we've established the introduction. Please let me know how you like it! Fanfiction willing, I will reply to reviews this time.**

 **MD666.**


	4. Chapter 4

Daryl woke up with a grunt. The transition from sleep to waking was abrupt and jarring. He blinked, disorientated in the half gloom. It was stifling in the room. Daryl guessed it was the late morning based on the amount of light filtering in around the curtains. He could see dust particles dancing lazily in the air, undisturbed by any type of breeze. Daryl grimaced and resolved to open a window.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and tugged on his boots, having slept in his jeans. It was the first time he had slept in the camp bed since arriving. He'd collapsed into it with little to no thought, just desperate to close his eyes and shut out his budding insanity.

As Daryl tightened his laces he cast a suspicious eye around the room. It was completely empty and he appeared to be alone. Beth was nowhere in sight.

Feeling worse than hungover, Daryl dragged his hands across his face. He felt haggard and old, and likely looked it. Whatever his mental state, it seemed the hallucinations were gone this morning. Despite his doubt he couldn't help but consider the possibility that Beth was a ghost and possibly in the room with him despite not being visible. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he examined the empty room more cautiously. No evidence to suggest Beth was there.

He was relieved.

But also there was a twist in his stomach that was alarmingly close to disappointment. He shoved himself to his feet aggressively. Daryl felt better in motion and his mind was somewhat clearer as he thundered down the stairs.

Rick was in the kitchen, standing like he was waiting for something. His exasperated expression when his eyes locked onto Daryl immediately indicated that he was the source of Rick's consternation.

Rick's forehead pinched. "Were you still sleeping?"

"Didn't get to bed until late," Daryl fired back, anger his typical reaction when he was feeling defensive. He set about grabbing a glass of water, still marvelling that he had access to running water. In fact, he was living in a house far nicer than any he'd have dreamed of living in a decade ago. All it took was the world ending.

"Did you forget we had a meeting with Deanna?'

He had. "Shit." He took a few hurried gulps of the water and pretended not to notice that the corners of Rick's lips crept upwards. It wasn't a smile. Rick didn't smile these days.

"We're going to discuss the town's defences," Rick explained edging towards the door, clearly impatient.

"Discuss? Don't ya mean lecture?" Daryl asked pointedly. He hadn't settled into the town easily but he certainly hadn't experienced the difficulties that Rick had. He couldn't reconcile himself to the relatively lax way they viewed the threat outside the walls. They seemed almost ignorant of the dangers that this new world posed other than the walkers.

"They don't understand, Daryl. Not like we do. And worse, they don't _want_ to understand!"

Without the beard, Daryl could see the muscle in Rick's jaw flex. Even though they were as close as two friends could be, Rick still didn't like to be questioned much these days. Daryl suspected that Terminus had destroyed something in Rick. While Daryl had learnt to trust in people again, Rick had spiralled downwards into suspicion.

In those long, dehydrated walks down the highway, the two men had recognised the other had changed. Maybe they both knew the other was slowly going insane? But Daryl had been too consumed with his grief to do much with the knowledge. And something in Rick had broken too irreparably for him to offer much in the way of comfort.

They were by themselves so it would have been a perfect time to raise any one of the myriad of issues. Daryl could have confessed to seeing Beth last night. But he remained silent, instead taking another large mouthful of water. He set the glass down with a clunk and gestured for Rick to lead on.

Rick looked relieved. Like he'd been experiencing a very similar train of thought to Daryl. A man like Rick had just as much to confess as Daryl.

Daryl followed the other man through the door to emerge into sharp sunshine. It wasn't over hot but there was a clinical clarity to the light today. It wasn't the type of day people saw ghosts on.

Daryl trailed behind Rick as he led the way to Deanna's house. He heard some kids playing off to one side and he was almost use to the laughter. The first time he heard the kids screeching in jest, he had flinched and just about fired his crossbow much to the dismay of onlooking parents.

Rick pushed open the door and announced their presence. "You get Daryl?" he heard Maggie sing out.

"I didn't know I was so in demand," Daryl grumbled, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. He hated being the centre of attention in front of people he barely knew. Hell, he hated being the centre of attention even when he _did_ know the people.

"He was catching up on his beauty sleep," Rick called back. His tone was flat but it was recognisable as a joke.

"Ha." Daryl's laugh was brief and sarcastic.

Deanna was there with her husband, whose name Daryl could never remember. Aaron was in the seat closest to the entrance and he offered him a wave. Maggie was obviously there as was Glenn, standing behind Maggie with his fingers braced on the back of her chair.

And next to Maggie was Beth fucking Greene. She arched an elegant eyebrow in his direction when his eyes locked on her.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Daryl spat out loudly. All eyes swivelled to him. His friends looked confused, the strangers were alarmed.

"Are you alright?" Deanna asked quickly, her kind face contorted with concern.

For a second, Daryl couldn't speak, completely fixated on the blond dead girl, casually sitting next to Maggie.

"Daryl, no one can see me. You have to talk. They think you're crazy." Beth observed this calmly, as if she were merely commenting on the weather.

He wanted to bellow back at her that he wasn't sure that he wasn't crazy any more. He was still being scrutinised closely by everyone in the room and he felt his neck burn hot.

"I stubbed my toe," he explained lamely and with far too long a delay. Even Beth winced at his shitty, awkward excuse.

"Do you… need something?" Deanna was obviously unsettled by the arrival and subsequent yelling from one of the new comers. Aaron's eyes were a little more calculating. Daryl had concluded that the man was good at reading people and he wondered now why he hadn't avoided him.

Rick started talking to ease the tension in the room but Daryl could barely listen. Beth was smirking faintly and he realised that she had enjoyed his humiliation to a certain degree. Well two could play at that game. With a dangerous glitter in his eyes, he stalked across the room. He was about to find out how Beth felt about being sat on. He knew that despite what he saw, her body hadn't manifested physically. Still, the indignation he inflicted would be satisfying enough revenge.

Unfortunately she guessed his intention and managed to scramble out of the way at the last minute. Her feet made no sound on the carpet as she hurried to stand and the fingers that grabbed out the couch made no dent in the fabric. It was disconcerting to witness as she appeared so solid but all his senses told him otherwise.

Daryl plonked himself down in her vacated seat smugly. His victory was short lived when she perched herself on the arm of the chair right next to him. With that move, he lost almost all ability to follow the discussion. Whether or not he could actually touch Beth Greene, he could sense her proximity like the heat of an open flame. She seemed to radiate energy.

Instead of paying attention, he found himself trying to remember the last time they had been this close. Was it when he carried her into the kitchen? That seemed like a hundred years ago now. He recalled sweeping her up, unnecessarily as she was obviously perfectly capable of walking. He had rationalised it in his head as teasing her but it had was also just nice to feel her against him.

He shook his head subtly and tried to return his mind to the present. Rick was negotiating with Deanna and managing to keep his calm. Daryl absently wondered why Michonne wasn't here as she was blatantly the most reasonable of the pair these days. She might have been on duty. As one of the designated law enforcers of the town, she took her job seriously. Maybe she was trusting Rick to handle it on his own. More likely she was counting on the calming presence of Glenn and Maggie. Maybe she even thought Daryl would provide the balance that Rick was lacking these days. She'd made an error there considering Daryl was bat shit insane.

Taking Beth's seat had also put him bizarrely close to Maggie. He normally wouldn't have sat this close to anyone but it was a small two seater couch designed to receive guests rather than for comfort and so his thigh was almost touching hers. If she or Glenn noticed his strange choice than they were gracefully biting their tongues and focusing on the more important issue at hand. Teaching the citizens self-defence.

Rick wanted it to be mandatory, Deanna wanted people to be able to choose. Aaron offered a workable balance. He suggested that they begin with volunteers with the view that it would become compulsory to learn some kind of weapon. Aaron's theory was that a gradual introduction to the idea and having others in the community to champion it would be useful. It was an efficient solution and it seemed to please everyone except Rick. His frustration revealed that he thought that was too little and too slow.

Daryl braced himself, waiting for Rick to blow up but his leader managed a curt nod and promised to think about it. That was all anyone had time for, everyone had jobs to get back to. Not Daryl yet. Aside from a few shifts on guard duty, he was still unassigned. Though there was Aaron's offer. He assumed Deanna had approved it otherwise he would never have heard it in the first place.

Not that he'd done much to endear himself to her today. He chanced a look at Beth but for once she wasn't staring at him like she had a secret she was unwilling to share. She appeared to be following the discussion closely and with interest. Her intensity made the corners of Daryl's mouth twitch into a barely perceptible smile. She was so easy to dismiss but Daryl knew better than most how much she learnt while she was just listening and watching.

As if she sensed his eyes on her, Beth glanced downwards and their gaze locked. Daryl felt his neck flush under her appraising stare and wondered not for the first time how this young, slip of a girl managed to throw him off balance with nothing more than a pointed look.

…

Beth trailed behind Daryl lazily as he walked the length of the walls of Alexandria. She was glad of the opportunity to see more of this town that had given her family shelter. She was content to give Daryl a bit of space too. She could tell by the tense shoulders that he knew she was still behind him.

He had stalked out of the town meeting with only a grunted explanation about guarding. Beth wished they could have lingered. She had noticed the way the leader of the group, Deanna interacted with Maggie. She obviously respected her big sister's opinion and Beth would have liked to have gleaned more about Maggie's new role in this town. But Maggie also looked healthy, well fed and well rested; almost the exact opposite of Daryl.

Daryl paused a few feet ahead of her and tugged at his shirt where the strap of his crossbow usually rested. It was a nervous habit. He turned to examine one part of the wall and its bracing.

"I suppose you thought that was funny?" he asked suddenly, eyes still searching for some kind of fault to fix.

Beth shrugged. "Got your attention, didn't it?" There was something in the quiet way he asked that made Beth instantly feel guilty. Maybe she shouldn't have done it that way, but she wanted to force him to notice her, to acknowledge her.

"And made me look crazy. Maybe I am but I prefer everyone didn't know it."

"I'm sorry," Beth offered, suitably chastened.

This got Daryl to turn his attention away from his fabricated work and look at her properly. For a second she thought he would say something but he just nodded curtly before continuing on.

Beth nervously played with the end of her ponytail before hastening to catch up with the hunter. Instead of remaining a few steps behind, she drew level with him.

"They seem like nice people," Beth observed.

The silence stretched on uncomfortably long. "They are," Daryl mumbled.

"Are you going to help Aaron look for people?" She asked.

Daryl side-eyed her. "How do you even know about that?"

Beth blushed, realising that she had just confessed to spying.

"I'm a ghost, Daryl, I hear a lot of things that I shouldn't."

"Couldn't have found something else to do other than listen to private conversations?" Daryl's tone was deadpan.

"What do you care? You're convinced I'm a hallucination. By that logic I know everything you know," Beth said primly.

Daryl raised both eyebrows at her pert response. "For the sake of this conversation, and my peace of mind, let's just say you're… real."

"That's progress," Beth shot back sarcastically. As much as she wanted to be calmly engaging with Daryl, there was something about him that constantly got under her skin.

"Where do you go when you're not with me?" Daryl ignored her acidic response.

"I check in with Maggie sometimes but you're the only one who can see me. Or at least so far."

"How long were you around before I saw you?"

"Weeks." Beth hated the way her voice caught when she answered. She sounded vulnerable.

"What have you seen?" There was an undercurrent of alarm in Daryl's question.

Beth fought off a grin. "Depends. If you accept I'm a ghost then not much. If you think I'm a hallucination, then technically I've seen everything you have."

Daryl blanched and Beth expected to feel a kind of victory at making Daryl squirm but she was suddenly struck with a strong memory of him from years earlier. She had seen the sprawl of tattoos and tangle of scars stretch down his back when he was injured on her farm. The memory no longer made her feel pity but rather fascination. The thought of tracing those lines with her fingers made her breathing quicken.

She shook her head. Not only were such thoughts of Daryl stupid, she couldn't even touch anything. Ignoring the surge of frustration in her veins, Beth tried to change the topic.

"Rick doesn't seem to like the people here?"

"It's not that," Daryl started. "Just don't think he wants to get attached to people who are likely to die."

"Maybe they won't," Beth countered. She couldn't help but err on the side of optimism. Which was ironic since she should know firsthand that anyone could die. Her optimism hadn't protected her from being shot in the head. Beth's vision blurred, first black and then with a flash of bright light. Searing pain erupted in her head and she hissed, almost doubling over.

"Are you ok?" Daryl asked with concern.

"I'm… fine," Beth tried to reassure him but the pain was getting worse.

"Beth?" His voice sounded frantic. "What's happening?"

Daryl was a blur in front of her, his hands outstretched as if to help her but unable to touch her.

Beth tried to focus on his anxious face but it was swimming in and out of her vision. With a final burst of pain that made Beth cry out and shut her eyes in agony, Beth felt the familiar prickle of electricity down her skin.

"Beth!"

Silence.

"Beth?" The voice had changed. The drawl was more pronounced and the concern had all but been replaced with mild surprise.

Beth's eyes flicked open and landed on Merle Dixon and behind him, endless white.

"Fuck!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Didn't expect to see you so soon?" Merle drawled as Beth sunk to her knees. Her head felt like it had been split in two and she rubbed at her forehead half expecting to feel blood trickling down her skin.

The image of Merle stuttered in front of her like static on an old TV. Each flicker was punctuated with a bright flash of light that did nothing to ease the throbbing pain in her head.

Beth groaned loudly. "This ghost thing is hard."

"Yeah well, nobody told you it would be easy," Merle observed with a casual shrug but he offered a hand down to Beth all the same.

Not feeling proud enough to refuse help, Beth grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"What went wrong?" he pressed when she was balanced. "Daryl…?"

"Is fine!" Beth hastened to assure him. "I'm learning the hard way that every time I think about getting shot, it hurts like a son of a bitch."

Merle's lips curled up in amusement. "That's some language from a southern Belle."

Beth slid her eyes to him in frustration. "Can we focus?" she demanded. "I need to get back."

"What's the rush, blondie?"

Beth tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear and tried to gather her thoughts. Turns out being transported trans-dimensionally was not good for a person's focus.

"Last time I was here for what felt like a few hours but weeks passed out there in the real world. The longer I'm here, the harder it is to look out for Daryl. And my family." Beth hastily tacked on her family as an afterthought.

The fact Daryl had seen her was increasing her impatience. If she stayed away too long he would dismiss her as dream or worse, a hallucination created in a crazed mind.

"How is Daryl?" Merle asked. His eyes had drifted to the ceiling and as much as he tried to emulate a nonchalant tone, the question was gruff.

"He's fine," Beth stated more sincerely this time. "He's safe in a community at the moment." Beth left off the fact that he thought he was going insane. She didn't want to alarm Merle and it didn't seem right to reveal a secret of that nature. The memory of the new scar on his hand made her stomach tight.

Merle furrowed his eyebrows. "A community? That ain't as reassuring as you might think. They're either a sitting duck like your prison was or rotten to the core like Woodbury."

Merle was demonstrating that uncanny ability to surmise human nature. His words reminded her of the hospital. All the people there hadn't been evil but there was a corruptness in that society. People taking advantage of the state of things to serve their own personal desires.

Beth considered what she had seen so far. Granted it was only a brief glimpse but the community seemed decent.

"I think this one might be different."

Merle arched a disbelieving eyebrow.

"I hope," Beth caveated. "I hope this one might be different."

Merle gestured around him petulantly. "This is where hope gets you."

"Daryl has as good a chance as anyone," Beth insisted. "He's strong."

Merle fixed her with an intense look under which Beth flushed. Had she been too obvious?

"He can see me," Beth rushed to say, hoping it would distract Merle long enough that she could compose herself. Her life was complicated enough without factoring in how her stomach dropped when Daryl looked at her.

Merle whistled low. "That's rare but I suppose I ain't surprised."

"You're not?"

"No. My little brother was very perceptive and always too sweet for his own good. No matter how much I tried to toughen him up." Merle made one of Daryl's best qualities sound like an insult. "Makes sense that if anyone would be in tune to all this hocus pocus bullshit it would be him."

"That's why I have to get back."

"Then I'd capitalise on whatever, or _whoever_ , has got you so antsy."

Beth chose to ignore the subtle hint laden in Merle's words and tried not to wince overtly at what he was implying. Instead she focused on the solid advice he had provided. She had to focus on what made her feel alive.

She conjured up a picture of Daryl's face, building the image around his eyes with their sharpened blue. Her skin felt hot and her heart jump started back into life. The air around her seemed to haze and vibrate, forcing her to shut her eyes.

Beth didn't open her eyes until the nausea in her stomach abated. She was in another white room but not the blinding, clinical white of limbo. Instead the light was soft and organic. Beth was in a bathroom and Daryl was coming out of the shower.

Completely naked.

…

Daryl had to admit he loved the new access to showers. He'd never much given a damn about his appearance, or even hygiene for that matter, before the civilised world had come to a screeching halt. And after it had, he'd cared even less. But the luxury of having access to hot, clean water hadn't gotten old.

With great reluctance he turned off the water and opened the shower door.

A strangled noise got his attention and he met the wide-eyed stare of Beth Greene.

"What the hell!" he spluttered, adrenaline dumping into his system. His brain trying to frantically process what was happening. Beth was back. He hadn't seen her for days and he had been beginning to think that he wouldn't see her again, a thought which both relieved and terrified him.

Another pressing fact. He wasn't wearing any clothes at all.

He started as he realised he was in a suddenly too small bathroom, dripping wet with Beth Greene. She was starting to turn a vivid shade of red.

"I'm sorry," she stammered. He saw her eyes drift lower.

"Beth!" he exclaimed in alarm.

Her hands jerked up to cover her eyes. "Oh my god," Beth whispered sounding mortified. Daryl didn't know who was blushing more, her or him.

He snatched up a towel, his hands shaking as he tied it securely around his waist. "What the hell are you doing here?" Daryl barked. He didn't mean to shout at her but he was a slave to his discomfort.

"I just came back." Her palms were still pressed firmly against her eyes.

"Back from where?"

Beth tilted her head as if following the sound of his voice. "I guess you could call it Limbo."

Daryl's hands stilled and he fixed her with a sharp stare. "Limbo?"

"It's where I go when I'm not here."

"You can open your eyes," Daryl said grudgingly. Part of him wanted to let her stand awkwardly a little longer as punishment. She had seen him naked after all.

Beth lowered her hands and cracked her eyes open one at a time. Tension eased out of her shoulders when she realised he was partially covered. Now that he had her gaze back on his skin Daryl was suddenly aware that a towel was really just a small scrap of fabric.

"Couldn't you have appeared in someone else's shower?" Daryl asked drily to break the taut silence.

Beth rubbed the back of her neck and glanced at the ground. Words rushed out of her mouth, "I think it's because you're the only one who can see me. Apparently I need an anchor to get back here and we've got some kind of connection."

Daryl thought that was understatement. He and Beth certainly did have a connection the nature of which was still undefined.

"I still ain't convinced you're not an illusion and I didn't summon you up with my brain," Daryl grumbled, trying to keep his thoughts on the present rather than let them drift back to when they had both sat across from each other in that kitchen.

"Daryl, are you saying you were thinking about me in the shower?"

"No," he snapped immediately. Beth's question was loaded and unexpected. Her lips had formed a smirk as she kept her gaze lowered. He felt the heat of embarrassment and anger. Beth was young but she knew what she had said.

If he was doing this to himself, then he was a sadistic asshole.

He crossed his arms across his chest, suddenly vulnerable. It wasn't just that he was blind sighted by her evocative statement. But he was guiltily reminded that once or twice, he _had_ thought about her pretty pink lips and smooth skin in ways that would have earned him a slap in the face if Maggie could have read his mind. But he'd never indulged them, quickly shoving all such thoughts away behind a locked door that read 'impossible and impractical.'

Beth was standing across from her with an eerie stillness. She didn't seem to breathe as regularly or blink as often as a normal human.

Daryl wanted to lash out at her for making him question everything he thought about reality and his memory of her.

He didn't get a chance.

"Please, Daryl, stop trying to push me away," Beth entreated.

Daryl was struck by the sudden knowledge that Beth was frightened. Her fear sent a shot of pain through his chest. When he had been tracking her down, the thought of her scared and alone had kept him going. And now she was in front of him, it was almost too much to witness. He had failed her then. Was he really going to do it again?

Daryl took a step forward, not even knowing himself what he'd do when he got to her. He couldn't touch her so a comforting hug was off the table and even if it wasn't, he didn't think he'd have been able to broach the distance between them.

"What do you need?" he asked raggedly.

"I want you to believe me that I'm real!" she pleaded, turning those big blue eyes up to meet his.

Daryl's head shook sadly. "I want to, Beth but this is impossible. You standing here is impossible. I saw you die. I carried your body."

Beth sucked in a breath as if wounded. Her fingers twitched upwards almost imperceptibly.

Unable to stop himself even though he could see he was hurting her, Daryl continued onwards. "I carried you to your sister. I saw her collapse and cry over you."

Daryl could see tears forming now and hated himself. He always had a knack for destroying things.

"Maggie," Beth mumbled as if confused.

"That's right. Your sister. Why can I see you and she can't?" Daryl seized upon this idea as if it definitively proved him right.

"No, no!" Beth said hurriedly, raising her head. Her eyes were bright with excitement. "I know how I can prove that this is me."

"How?" Daryl asked sceptically.

"I'll tell you a story about me and Maggie when we were young. Something you've never heard before and then when you go ask her about it and she tells you the exact same thing, you'll _have_ to believe me."

Daryl considered her suggestion and tried to find holes in her theory but he had to admit it was a solid plan. The back of his neck prickled. If she was a phantom he had imagined then why would she propose an idea that might completely undermined her credibility?

Like a bolt of lightning he knew that he wanted her to be telling the truth. That regardless of his mental state all he wanted was Beth to be back.

Daryl rubbed a hand across his face to disguise his expression. It was his turn to be scared and he didn't want his sudden revelation to be absurdly transparent. Why was it that Beth chased away his self-control and his long in place shields?

"If it'll shut you up, then I'll do it," Daryl conceded sulkily. "But first let me put some damn pants on."

Beth straightened up and the smile that burst into life was blinding. It tore through Daryl like electricity and just like that, without even talking to Maggie, he knew Beth was real.

He had thought about Beth a hundred times since he saw her killed. But one thing his imagination had never gotten right was her smile. The one he'd first seen while drunk on the porch, all comprised of sunshine and goodness.

He never thought he'd see it again or experience what it was like to have the full power of it directed at him again.

But he just had. She was back.

 **AN: I wanted this chapter to be longer but I'm so out of practice at writing that it took me almost three hours to write this and I've now got a headache. Hope you still enjoy this offering. Please review and let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

Now that Daryl was wearing pants he certainly felt better. What a difference not being entirely naked could make.

Not that he found anything about his current situation normal. Beth was sitting cross legged on the camp bed in the attic, looking completely at home. He raked a hand through his wet hair before slouching against the wall with his arms folded.

For a few second, there was silence while neither of them spoke. Beth seemed briefly caught up in her own thoughts and Daryl was caught up in Beth.

She had tugged the sleeves down almost to her knuckles so that only her pale fingers were visible. Her eyes were skirting around the room, which had less to do with it containing anything interesting and more a by-product of their times. There weren't many people still alive that hadn't developed the habit of wariness. All the unobservant people were dead.

Daryl couldn't help but stare intently at her forehead where he'd seen the bullet enter. It was smooth and unblemished as if it had never happened. There was no blood on her clothes or in her hair. She was wiped clean; a fresh slate to start again with.

Beth focused in on him and he quickly adverted his eyes so that his scrutiny wouldn't be too obvious.

Daryl cleared his throat. "So tell me this story," he invited.

Beth's features settled into an easy grin.

"You're going to ask about the time I stole something."

Daryl's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Stole something? That don't sound like you at all."

Beth half shrugged and wrapped her arms around her legs, drawing them close. "It's not like I stole anything super exciting. When I was about nine, I took a candy bar from a local shop."

"Regular super villain you are," Daryl intoned flatly.

She wrinkled her nose in his direction. "Shut up! For me that was a big deal."

"Oh I know it. And you were asking me if I'd ever been in jail during that stupid drinking game, meanwhile you were the real criminal."

"You're hilarious," Beth sniped back but the smile stayed in place, clearly not taking his teasing to heart.

"Alright, Bonnie, what happened?"

"Well I was consumed with guilt, Beth confessed sheepishly. "You try stealing when your father had a habit off reciting the Ten Commandments every other lunch."

"Would've been real unlikely in my house. So would lunch for that matter."

Beth paused to ponder his words and he wished he hadn't said anything. His shitty childhood was no secret but he still hated the inevitable flash of pity that always followed when he mentioned it. Beth's blue eyes stayed mercifully free of sympathy.

"I finally confessed what I had done to Maggie. And instead of telling on me or making me feel worse she began organising a complicated reverse-heist to get the candy bar back. Or as complicated as two little girls could come up with."

Daryl snorted in laughter as he pictured Maggie determinedly trying to protect an even smaller Beth.

"Did it work?"

"Of course it did," Beth laughed. "We were so proud of ourselves for getting it back. But we swore never to tell anyone else, which I haven't until now."

Daryl experienced a brief rush of unexpected pleasure and he realised it was because he liked Beth confiding in him and trusting him. It felt…warm. He glanced away and absently toyed with the handle of the knife at his belt.

Beth didn't notice his moment of weirdness. "So if you just ask her about that and she tells you the exact same story I did, then you'll know I'm me and not a hallucination."

Daryl didn't need to hear Maggie's story, he already believed her. But he didn't want to announce that and have Beth ask what had changed his mind. Historically, whenever Beth asked that question, they ended up on uncertain territory.

 _Oh._

Not for the first time, Daryl wondered how they had gotten here. She'd spent so long on the periphery of his world. Someone who he'd kill for but knew almost nothing about. And now she was the god damn centre of his life. It had all started with one simple hug born of kindness and now she was sitting on his bed telling him secrets.

And dead. Couldn't forget the dead bit.

"We should go find your sister and get her version on your reckless life of crime."

Beth got to her feet, leaving the covers on the bed undisturbed. "You really going to lecture me on my one moment of weakness?"

"Y'mean the one bit of dirt I have on you? Yeah, yeah I am."

Beth made as if to bump him with her shoulder but never made contact. She caught herself before she got too close. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth while still trying to keep the smile in place. She looked like she was falling, her breath rattled in her chest.

Daryl didn't know what to say. Once Maggie had put the final piece of proof on the table, they were going to have to talk properly about what was going on.

"C'mon Greene, unless you wanna tell me about a gratified desk at your high school or something?" His voice was slightly raspy.

Her breathing eased into something less heart wrenching. "Do you really think I'd graffiti?"

"Ten minutes ago I would have said no but now I'm not sure," Daryl informed her while pushing down the stairs to the rest of the house. "Just goes to show, you never really know someone," he mused, with fake concern.

"Bet you drew little hearts and the name of the boy you liked," Daryl continued to tease.

Beth laughed out loud. "I did not. Maybe in my notebook. _Maybe!_ "

"Yeah, sure." The tightness in his chest was easing.

After trying the house Maggie was staying in and finding it empty, they trailed across the town without speaking. Given they couldn't talk without Daryl looking crazy, they had no choice. But it was a comfortable silence. The remnants of her laugh lingered at the corners of her mouth, making her seem lighter and more at ease.

Daryl knocked on the door and was relieved when Maggie answered. He'd been dreading having to see Deanna. He never seemed to leave her with the best impression of him. And the more Daryl had thought about Aaron's offer, the more he had wanted to get out and help him look for people.

Maggie was surprise to see him, especially when he told her he'd come to see her.

Daryl shifted awkwardly on his feet. "If this is a bad time, I can come back." His eyes were already seeking out an exit and ignoring the exasperated glare Beth was shooting in his direction.

"Its fine, Daryl, what is it? Is something wrong?"

Beth was watching her sister intently, drinking in the sight of her. He couldn't very well run away now.

"No, nothing wrong. I just… I wanted to ask you a question about Beth."

"Beth?" Maggie repeated, straightening up. Maggie was one of the people who hadn't approached him after her death or tried to make presumptions about what Beth had meant to him. Too caught up in mourning herself he supposed.

"It won't take long," Daryl rushed to promise her. "I've just been thinking about her lately."

 _Particularly as she is a ghost standing right next to me and only I appear to be able to see her_. Daryl wisely didn't add the second bit.

"What did you want to know?" Maggie pushed.

"It's stupid probably but we were playing some game called 'never have I done'…"

"Never have I ever," Beth corrected.

"Never have I ever."

Maggie tilted her head curiously. "Why were you playing that?"

Daryl threw his hands up. "I don't know. She wanted to when we were drinking moonshine."

"You gave my sister moonshine?"

"Oh please," Beth scoffed. "She can't judge me. I've seen some of the photos from her college parties."

Daryl's head was spinning trying to keep track of the conversation that everyone present could hear and not focus on Beth.

"Anyway," he cut across louder than was necessary, "she said she stole something once but never finished the story. I got to thinking that was out of character for her and I wanted to know if you knew what had happened?"

The suspicious glint in Maggie's eyes traded place with a wide smile. The Greene sisters were so different in some respects but if nothing else, their smiles linked them. When they smiled, their eyes lit up so brightly.

"I had forgotten that!"

"You know what she's talking about then?" Daryl imperceptibly turned to Beth. She was still transfixed by her sister, not sparing much attention for him.

"Yeah of course. The longest secret we shared," Maggie joked. "You know, sometimes she used to annoy the crap out of me. She was my little sister, younger by years, so I guess that made sense. But when she came to me in tears about that stupid candy bar, all I wanted to do was protect her."

"She stole a candy bar. That's it?"

Maggie shrugged. "You know what Beth's like. She wanted to the right thing even when she was ten."

Daryl nodded and leaned back. "Thanks for telling me. Not quite the dramatic tale of thieving that I expected but it makes sense."

He started to turn, wanting to let Maggie get back to her important task of helping run the town.

"Daryl," she called after him, stopping him.

"You can come ask me questions about her any time you want. It was nice to talk about her. Remember who she was."

Daryl very deliberately didn't look at either woman. Maggie's voice had caught and he was barely any good at coping with one upset Greene girl, let alone two. He nodded briskly, not trusting himself to speak. He was suddenly overcome with guilt that he could see Beth and Maggie couldn't. What right had he to have Beth all to himself?

…

The sun was still bright but the shadows were long. The start of afternoon and the descent into night time.

Daryl and Beth were sitting side by side on the roof of the house he shared. A beer perched precariously on the slope. Beth's heart fluttered at their height even though logically she knew she could walk right off the edge with little consequences.

Daryl had taken a few sips of the beer at first before putting it down and ignoring it. Condensation was growing on the side of the brown bottle. Beth untucked her hands from her lap and touched a finger to the glass.

"Can you feel it?" Daryl asked curiously.

"I can," Beth confessed. "It feels weird but solid. Cool too." She drew her hand back. The moisture on the glass was completely undisturbed by her touch.

"You couldn't touch me though."

Beth gave an awkward, one shouldered shrug. "I don't think the physical rules are that clear yet. I can't pick up the bottle and I think if it were moving then I wouldn't be corporeal enough to stop it."

Daryl nodded though his eyes were confused, before turning to look out over the space below them.

"Don't you have something to be doing today?"

Daryl smirked, "think I've earnt a day off."

"And you believe me now?"

Daryl grunted his confirmation. "Don't rightly understand it but it seems that you're here." He looked quietly relieved that he wasn't going insane.

Beth laughed humourlessly. "That makes two of us." She sucked in a shaky breath. It was time to tell him about Merle and he didn't know how Daryl would react. He had a complicated relationship with his older brother but she didn't think Daryl would like to hear about Merle stuck in limbo, not only unable to move on but unable to get back to earth and see the one person he cared about.

"I have to tell you something," Beth began slowly.

"Uh oh," Daryl said, reaching for the beer, "sounds ominous."

"I would have told you earlier but there was no point until you believed me." She was stalling.

"Spit it out, Greene."

"Where I come from, I'm not the only person there. Merle's there too." Beth's fingers were tingling with anticipation, uncertain how Daryl was going respond to this information.

Daryl blinked at her for a few moments. "Merle?" he repeated.

"Yeah, he's actually the one who helped me get back here."

"Merle _helped_ you? Now I ain't sure if I believe you all over again," Daryl quipped. It was a bleak attempt at a joke. His words were light but fractured. Beth smiled weakly at him.

"He wanted me to look out for you if I could."

Daryl's jaw clenched and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stupid bastard. Always asking forgiveness after fucking things up. Too late as per usual."

"Never too late to do the right thing," Beth pointed out softly. Merle Dixon was a wound Daryl had borne most of his life, just like the scars on his back. It was still raw and painful.

"What's it like up there?" There was a sense of urgency to the question and Beth could tell he wasn't asking out of simple curiosity. He wanted to know how Merle was without asking outright. Beth rolled her eyes – stubborn to the end, these Dixon boys.

"At worst, he's probably bored," Beth stated honestly. "There isn't any pain up there and he seems to have a near constant supply of smokes."

Daryl managed a wry grin. "That sounds near on close to heaven for my brother."

"People come and go up there. He's seen Lori and Dale while there."

Daryl's eyebrows lifted, suddenly reminded how bizarre this conversation was. "Has he come here too?" He tried not to panic at the idea of Merle watching him unbeknownst to him.

"He can't come down. It's different for everyone."

"So he's just… stuck." Daryl trailed off. Beth hated how lost he looked. He had the soul of a knight, Daryl did. Wanting to protect people no matter their crimes against him.

"For now," Beth acknowledged. "But Daryl, you have to remember he has the opportunity to move on when he's ready. And he has all the time in the world to be ready. Time might do him some good."

"You're right," Daryl conceded.

"If I see him again, I'll say hi for you," Beth offered lightly. She didn't want to think about going back there. Every time might be her last.

"Well, I suppose, you're a damn sight better to look at than my brother." He didn't look at her when he spoke, his words seeming to have slipped out by accident. He suddenly became awfully fixated on tugging at the beer label.

Beth blushed at his compliment. She stayed silent, unsure how to respond. Was he being nice or was he flirting with her? Daryl was not particularly good at either and honestly Beth didn't know if she would be particularly suave in her response. It had been easy to flirt with Zach, with his quick jokes and playful eyes. But with Daryl, it was a whole lot more serious.

Daryl cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable with his own words and uncertain how to push the conversation along.

"So do you have a game plan?"

Beth tugged on the end of her hair and raised an eyebrow. "Game plan."

"Don't tell me all you want is to haunt us."

Beth bit her lip in fake-contemplation. "It could be fun. I feel like I owe Carl a good scare."

Daryl shook his head. "Bad idea. He's a teenage boy, you don't want to be observing what he gets up to."

"Gross, Daryl," Beth whined and pressed her hands to eyes.

Daryl chuckled dryly. "So, game plan."

"I don't know yet," Beth informed him. "I'm kind of getting used to the idea of being dead. It would be good if others could see me too."

"Then we try and make that happen," Daryl said simply.

The back of Beth's throat felt tight with emotion. Without thought for the impossibility of the task, Daryl had offered to help her.

"Who knows, one day you might even be able to touch things."

Beth struggled to keep her smile bright and a handle on her emotions. She didn't want to become a sobbing mess in front of Daryl. "Maybe with enough practice, both are possible?"

Daryl took a swig from the beer that couldn't be cold anymore. "No reason we can't start now."

He slid his hand towards her, palm down. His eyes were steadily on the horizon and not looking at her, but Beth could read the tension in the lines of his shoulders.

Tentatively, with a delicate tremble, she covered his hand with her own. His skin was warm and a little rough beneath her small palm.

"Can you feel that?" Even though she knew the answer, she asked anyway.

Daryl turned to face her once more and gave her an unguarded grin. "Not yet."

She could count on one hand the amount of times she had seen Daryl smile at her. Beth's stomach clenched tightly, her breath trapped in her chest as they looked at each.

Beth was beginning to get a better idea what _oh_ had meant.


	7. Chapter 7

It was strange how easily Daryl fell into a new routine with Beth in his life. Most of their days were spent together as she joined him on his daily tasks. She seemed to have a never ending supply of questions about what had been happening in her absence.

They passed many hours in the garage of Aaron's home, Daryl tinkering with that old bike. If he'd access to all his usual tools then it would have been up and running already but he had to make do with what he had. When Aaron and Eric were home and they couldn't talk without arousing suspicion, Beth would reel off a lengthy list of terrible jokes that would have Daryl groaning and shaking his head as he unscrewed one part or another. When they had the place to themselves, they talked.

She shuddered when he told her about Terminus, grinned when he told her about Sasha and Bob's brief but endearing romance. Frowned when Daryl told her how he'd passed.

"So soon after Tyreese? That's not fair," Beth sighed.

"How did you know about Tyreese?" Daryl asked. He had been slowly catching her up. Some people she'd seen when they'd passed them in the streets of Alexandria but Daryl was a loner by nature. He was trying to break the bad news to her gently and in instalments. She'd liked Bob but they'd had a lot less to do with each other than her and Tyreese. Ty had been so gentle and conflicted that he often sought out the counter to the death and destruction he saw. He'd found it in the kindness of Karen but he was just as likely to spend an hour with Judith and Beth, telling the little girl fairy tales.

Beth furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I saw him. I didn't remember until just then."

"Beth…" Daryl said in warning. She'd told him sometimes stress triggered her sudden disappearances to limbo. And call him selfish but he didn't particularly want to share her with his brother.

"It's ok." Beth waved off his concern. "He was dying and I was there." She had the manner of someone trying to recall a dream they'd had the night before. "With the girls."

Beth's head shot up, her eyes bright and Daryl leaned forward interested. "He saw me and we talked!"

"Like I can?"

Beth nodded thoughtfully. "More or less. It felt… feverish. He had been bitten and I don't think I remembered I was dead."

"Dead seems to be relative these days," Daryl observed, wiping his oily hands on a nearby rag.

"Hasn't slowed me down," Beth quipped.

"If he could see you and I can see you, then more people should be able to," Daryl concluded.

"We've talked about this," Beth said, steel in her voice. She was referring to the only argument they'd had since she'd come back. Whether to tell Maggie. Daryl wanted to let her know about Beth even though it caused jealousy to flare in his stomach. Beth didn't think it was the right time for reasons she couldn't properly explain.

"Don't mean I agree with you," Daryl pointed out, taking a step closer to Beth. He saw her swallow, somehow intimidated by his closeness despite the fact not much posed a physical threat to Beth these days.

"It's complicated. I am still getting the hang of this and I don't want to risk too many people being involved just yet. What if I have to go again? She'll end up broken hearted all over again."

"I think she'd think it was worth the risk to see and talk to you one more time."

Beth put her hands on her hip. "Oh you know that for sure do you?"

"Yes," Daryl answered quietly, looking up to capture her eyes.

A faint stain of red appeared in her cheeks and Daryl cursed internally. Why did he have to keep going and saying stupid shit like that? It was out of character for him and clearly made Beth uncomfortable.

He was saved from himself when he heard the door upstairs.

"Daryl, you here?" a voice called. Eric.

"Yeah I'm down here," Daryl shouted back, dragging his gaze away from Beth. There were footsteps and the door opened to reveal Eric.

"How's it going?" Eric asked curiously.

Daryl cleared his throat and tried to slow his pounding heartbeat. "It's coming along. Not running perfect yet."

"Anyone ever tell you that you waste time chasing perfection, you're never going to stop running?" Eric asked with a soft smile.

Daryl liked Eric, with his gentle words and calm acceptance. Maybe he simply trusted Aaron's instincts about Daryl but where some of the folks of Alexandria skirted around him, disconcerted by his rough manners and abrupt approach, it didn't seem to faze Eric in the slightest. Once Daryl realised neither of the men were put off by his deliberate attempts to be abrasive, Daryl had eased up. He'd even started using cutlery around them.

"You wanna stay for food since it's practically dinner time?" Eric asked, folding his arms.

"What's the time?" Daryl asked. It had been early afternoon not long ago. Eric checked his watch then held it up for Daryl to see.

"Shit, didn't realise it was that late," Daryl mumbled. "I should go."

"Don't be silly. We love having company – keeps Aaron and I from boring each other senseless." Eric's eyes flashed in good humour.

"Don't be rude,' Beth chided and Daryl fought not to roll his eyes at her.

"Food would be great," Daryl finally accepted. He didn't like to intrude though he'd finally come to see that they weren't inviting him just to be polite.

"Excellent, we're having a few people over and playing cards afterwards. I'll be in the kitchen when you're finished here." Eric practically dashed out of the room leaving Daryl open mouthed.

"I think you just got invited to a party," Beth observed, grinning broadly.

"I think I just got _trapped_ into a party," Daryl correct.

"Yeah, I like him," Beth decided. "And you do too, which is why you're going."

She narrowed her eyes at him almost like she'd read his mind. He _had_ been thinking of just skulking off. Maybe it was his restless feet that gave him away.

"I don't like parties," Daryl grumbled dragging his feet towards the door.

"Too bad. I like them just fine and I want to go," Beth announced from behind him.

…

Beth had to admit the food looked amazing from where she stood. A vegetarian lasagne was being divided up amongst the guests. Daryl had told her that some people hunted in Alexandria but game had been scarce. Well, Beth had made that assumption. If she had listened to Daryl, it was because none of them were as good at hunting as he was. Since he took so little pride in his own accomplishments, Beth had resisted the urge to tease him about his stance. She tried not to think about how long it had been since she had a meal. Another addition to the ever growing list of things she would never get to experience.

The group was small which was a relief for Daryl. He had fidgeted as far away from the tiny congregation as he could get without leaving the room. The arrival of Maggie and Glenn had made his breathing ease up. The other two people invited was a woman named Denise and a man named Tobin. Tobin greeted Daryl easily enough. Denise was a little more awkward and Beth tried not to groan when they sat next to each other.

For a long time it seemed neither of them was going to talk. Denise's shoulders were tense and Daryl seemed more preoccupied with shoving food in his mouth.

"So how do you know Aaron and Eric?"

"They brought us in," Daryl replied simply.

"You have to say more," Beth hissed at him. He cut his eyes up to her and glared. She had promised to stay silent but clearly he couldn't be left to his own devices.

"Don't glare at me. She's trying to make conversation, Daryl Dixon, so use that mouth god gave you."

"How about you?" Daryl blurted out, slightly too loud and too quickly, causing Denise to start and slosh the glass of wine she'd brought to her mouth. His question had attracted the attention of the rest of the table. Beth winced on his behalf.

"Denise patched me up once," Aaron explained with a smile. Taking pity on the two of them, he had intervened smoothly.

"You had a cold," Denis clarified, talking into her food rather than to the others.

"Patched him up?" Glenn clarified.

"I went to med school." Denise glanced up "For a while."

"Don't-" Beth began to say, reading Denise's discomfort from across the room but Daryl barrelled over the top of her.

"Why you stop?"

Denise rubbed at the bridge of her nose, pushing her glasses up briefly. "Trying to be a surgeon gave me anxiety." She said it in a matter of fact fashion.

Glenn and Maggie politely focused on their food but Daryl missed all the social cues as per usual.

"Why?" he asked bluntly.

Denise paused as if surprised a complete stranger would ask such a personal question. "I didn't like the pressure. I was scared of failing. Of the consequences of failing."

Daryl took a bite of his food while he contemplated her answer. "Sure you weren't underestimating yourself?"

"With all due respect, you don't know me," Denise replied with a snort.

Daryl shrugged. "I know you've made it this far when a lot of other folk haven't. Seems to me you don't know yourself."

The table stared at him, gobsmacked at his words while Daryl continued to devour the food in front of him seemingly oblivious. Then a smile slowly grew on Denise's face. "That was the most motivating way I've ever been scolded."

"Scolded? Do I look old enough to be scolding people?" Daryl demanded.

"You're grumpy like an old man," Glenn teased, causing the table to laugh and just like that, the tension was broken. Beth's heart suddenly felt too large for her chest. Seeing Daryl be kind to that woman, in his own brusque manner, had reminded her what a good person he was. But there was a hollowness in her stomach, because she hadn't been able to share in that moment. She was stuck as an observer, possibly for the rest of eternity.

She noticed Daryl watching her out of the corner of his eye and she fixed her smile in place and mimed zipping her lips shut. A faint smirk crossed his mouth as he realised Beth was saying she wouldn't be giving more unsolicited advise on how to behave at a dinner party.

She kept her promise until following Daryl outside to the porch. He lit up a smoke and stared out into the dark. Inside Beth could hear the sounds of the poker game being arranged.

"That was nice of you," she told him quietly.

Daryl dismissed the compliment with a wave of his hand. "Wasn't nothing."

"It was too something. You're sweet, Daryl Dixon, and now I know it."

"Am not," Daryl fired back sounding alarmed. Beth folded her arms and shook her head at his discomfort with the compliment. He was a paradox, this Dixon boy. Insults rolled off his back like water but show him a bit of kindness and you could practically see his hackles rise.

Beth raised her hands in surrender, not wanting to cast a blight on such a pleasant evening.

"You should get back in there," Beth gestured inside with her chin.

Daryl cast her an appraising glance which lingered long enough to make her skin tingle. "Yeah," he eventually agreed. "Though I hate poker. Can't control my face for shit."

"I would have thought you'd be good at cards."

Daryl shrugged. "Don't much care for gambling. Tend to lose."

A wicked grin spread across Beth's face. "Not tonight, sir. You've got an inside woman." She affected a slightly pronounced southern accent.

Daryl lifted his eyebrows and finished up his cigarette. "Oh I do, do I?"

Beth nodded decisively. "Can't very well lose when you know what everyone else is holding."

"Why, mam, are you suggestin' I cheat?" Daryl drawled, following her lead.

"I'm game if you are."

Daryl visibly swallowed and again Beth felt the intensity of his proximity. She desperately wished she could reach out and touch him.

"You're a menace, Beth Greene," he told her hoarsely, opening the door and heading back inside.

Beth's cheeks were warm as she followed him to the table that had been cleared of everything except drinks and cards.

Beth stood behind Maggie, fingers splayed on the back of her sister's chair as she inspected the cards in front of them.

"Nothing here," Beth announced over the chatter. Only the tilt of Daryl's head let her know he had heard. She did a quick lap and then leaned over to speak in Daryl's ear.

"Glenn's got a pair of Aces. Denise has a good hand too."

Daryl discreetly tapped his finger on the table signalling he understood. And with her guidance proceeded to win every hand.

"You're cheating," Aaron exclaimed at one point. "You have to be!"

"Don't be a sore loser," Eric chided his partner. He was coming second so he probably felt he could afford to be slightly more graceful.

"I ain't doing nothing of the sort. I'm just lucky." Daryl managed to glare down his accuser as if Aaron wasn't right.

"Or cheating," Maggie grumbled, clearly warming to Aaron's version of things.

Daryl snorted and took a swig of his beer. "I'm just better than you all."

"It is rather statistically unlikely." Denise was examining her cards closely as if staring at them would change them. Beth had already checked and she had nothing that would win her this round. Beth was finding their astonishment amusing.

Glenn threw his cards on the table in disgust. "I'm folding. I don't like the way he's smirking. Like he has X-ray vision or something."

"Or something," Daryl replied smugly as he proceeded to win the round.

"Looks like you've got a guardian angel watching out for you," Tobin joked good-naturedly even though he'd just lost his chocolate rations to the other man.

The grin slipped from Daryl's face into something more serious. "Looks like I do," he said quietly.

He didn't shift his attention to Beth but her chest tightened and her ability to breathe properly was completely undermined.

 _Oh._


	8. Chapter 8

It was early morning and Daryl was noticing a shift in the weather. The air was starting to get a little sharp to breath, the first sign winter was on its way. He was all alone as he took his ritual walk around the fence. It reassured him to see that it was strong and sturdy and that if any faults did appear, then he would discover them. The residents of Alexandria were still asleep and it was blissfully peaceful.

Somewhere in the last week or so his fearful reputation had worn thin and people had started greeting him in the streets. Daryl was forced to converse more regularly which amused Beth to no end but also grated his nerves. Beth too was absent at this point in time, doing whatever she did when she wasn't in his company. Daryl found she would often disappear in the evenings and not return until after he'd had breakfast. Her control over her movements was increasing, which was a relief. He'd not forgotten her unexpected appearance in his shower.

He was mostly glad that hadn't been repeated. Mostly.

As well as no unanticipated, naked encounters; she'd also not vanished completely for well over two weeks now. This stretch of time with no accidents didn't mean Daryl had forgotten the fear that had erupted in his chest the last time she'd disappeared into thin air. Sometimes he caught himself watching her closely as if his attention would keep her firmly grounded.

When she got too excited or enthusiastic about some point of conversation that was when his skin prickled. It felt like she was tied to this realm by the most fragile of strings and that too much of anything - be that emotion, movement, stimulus - and that connection would sever and he'd lose her for good. Daryl had tried to entertain the thought that maybe she wasn't supposed to be here anymore and his real purpose should be finding a way that she could move on and find peace. But the mere thought of losing Beth again forever made his heart beat an uneven staccato rhythm.

He was a selfish bastard.

Daryl was always uneasy when he couldn't see her. He knew she didn't do the same thing all the time and could only guess at her comings and goings by the vague clues she imparted through conversation. He knew she was spending time with Maggie and Glenn. And he was pretty sure at one point Beth had been trailing Carl around judging from the way she'd excitedly informed him that he had a crush on a girl.

Daryl had rolled his eyes and told her to, "let the boy be."

But the next time Daryl had been sitting on the porch chatting casually to Rick and Carl, he couldn't help but notice the way the teenager's gaze followed Enid as she walked by. Daryl had caught Rick's eye, whose amused smile indicated he'd observed it as well.

Daryl had relinquished some of his pride and asked Beth if she had any more updates on the Carl and Enid dynamic.

"Daryl Dixon, do you want to _gossip_?" Beth has asked him incredulously.

Daryl had scowled at her. "No!"

Beth had smirked at his denial. "I stopped following them," she'd informed him primly.

"Decided to finally respect people's privacy have you?" Daryl had griped, still put out by the suggestion he wanted to blather about the love life of two awkward teenagers. No matter how true the accusation had been.

"Please. I just think living through my own clumsy, first kiss is enough discomfort for one lifetime."

Daryl had wrinkled his nose. "Jimmy?" He wasn't sure why he'd asked. He didn't think he really wanted to know about some too-eager youth pawing at Beth.

Placing her hands on her hips, Beth had shaken her head. "I'll make you a deal. You tell me about your first kiss and I'll tell you about mine."

Daryl had scoffed. "No dice, Greene."

The memory made him smile now. He'd missed the way Beth looked when she was happy, all lit up with gentle kindness and sunshine.

"Morning stroll?"

A voice cut through his reverie. Abraham was regarding him from a distance, gun balanced on his shoulder. Daryl was still getting to know the solider with his rigid posture and devil may care attitude but his instincts told him he was a decent enough sort. The sun had broken the horizon and the first cast of morning light caused Abraham to squint slightly.

"Something like that," Daryl responded in a non-committal fashion. "You?"

Abraham gestured with his chin towards the guard tower. "Came to see if she'd take a break."

Daryl glanced upwards and saw Sasha standing watch. There was hardly a time when you could walk past and not see her there. She was using the rail for support more than he would have liked but Daryl knew why she was there day in, day out. She needed something to channel her grief into. The loss of Tyreese and Bob in such quick succession had devastated her. It was like someone had snuffed out the flame that made her Sasha. She was walking and talking but she'd checked out weeks ago.

He knew exactly what she was going through. It had been his own struggle until Beth's miraculous reappearance in his life.

Daryl grasped the strap of his crossbow across his chest. "Think she'll trade with you?"

"Nope," Abraham answered almost cheerfully.

"Then why ask?"

Abraham raised an eyebrow. "Because I fully intend to persist until one day she gives in."

Daryl returned his attention to Sasha who was doggedly surveying the surrounding environment despite her obvious exhaustion. "Hope it's soon. She's more likely to fall off the wall than to protect it at this rate."

Abraham chuckled even though there was nothing funny. "I heard you're heading out with Aaron today," Abraham noted, changing topics.

"Yeah."

"Think you'll find anyone?"

"I have to try," Daryl mumbled with a half-shrug. "There are still good people out there."

"Jesus, you sound like a hallmark card," Abraham crowed.

No, he sounded like Beth. And as if she'd heard him call her name, there she was. Standing a little further onwards, arms crossed and looking impatient. She seemed just as real and solid as Abraham, her hair a warm gold in the morning sun.

"Whatever," Daryl dismissed. With Beth's arrival he'd lost any inclination to prolong the conversation with Abraham. "Hope you talk some sense into her."

Without waiting for another insult, Daryl strode off.

…

When he stared at her that way, Beth didn't know what to think. Even from a distance, his gaze evoked a restless energy inside of her and she couldn't decide whether she wanted to run away or run towards him. In her current state she could do neither so she stood where she was and waited for him to close the distance.

Her death made everything more complicated. All she wanted was to talk about these strong emotions Daryl conjured in her. But he was the only one she could speak to. And even if she summoned the courage to confess to him what his mere presence did to her, what then?

Even if Daryl, who cringed and evaded whenever the topic of feelings was broached, didn't run for the hills if she admitted that he was the one thing she was here for; it wasn't like it could go any further. It would all just be so many pretty words with no action.

And Beth didn't want to just declare her hidden desires, she wanted to _act_ on them. With every fibre of her being she craved a myriad of sweet gestures and had imagined them happening often enough. She longed to reach out to Daryl and have him take her hand. She pictured him gently tucking wayward strands of hair behind her ear with a rueful grin. She daydreamed about his fingers tracing a careful line from her ribs to the hollow of her hip.

These impossibilities made her throat tight and she blinked rapidly as Daryl reached her.

"You ok?"

"Fine," Beth assured him, flashing a bright smile in his direction.

He narrowed his eyes as if he didn't believe her but didn't press the issue. "And you're sure you want to come today?"

"Why wouldn't I want to come?" Beth asked curiously.

"It's going to be…" he trailed off.

"Dangerous?" Beth supplied with a head tilt.

Daryl rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Dangerous."

"I think I'll be fine," Beth pointed out dryly.

Daryl suddenly became very interested in the ground and Beth felt guilty for her words. Daryl always seemed more bothered by references to her death than she was. As far as Beth was concerned, not discussing the fact didn't make it any less true. She'd been shot, she'd died, she'd gotten over it.

Still, she couldn't pretend that her loss hadn't affected Daryl. He fought his way to Grady to get her, come so close, then witnessed Dawn take her out because of Beth's own stupidity, rendering his efforts moot.

"But thanks though. I'm impressed by your chivalry." She hoped her attempt to tease him would break the sombre mood.

Daryl groaned but his forehead relaxed somewhat. "At least you won't be able to talk much with Aaron there."

"Oh honey. You're the one who can't talk. I can say whatever I want," Beth goaded. "In fact, I might sing the whole time. Badly. And off key."

"You wouldn't!"

Beth took a step forwards and lifting her chin up defiantly. "Try and stop me." She enunciated every syllable of her dare, enjoying the way Daryl swallowed when she invaded his personal space.

"Make all the threats you like, Beth," Daryl retorted when he found his voice. "But the second I figure out how to toss you out of the car, I'm gonna do it! Probably while it's moving."

Beth retorted by poking her tongue out and flouncing off in the direction of the car.

"I'm not scared, I know every word to Katy Perry," she tossed over her shoulder as Daryl hastened to catch her.

"What the hell is Katy Perry?" he queried in genuine bemusement.

Aaron was already waiting when they got close to the car and an easy silence settled between them.

"I thought I saw some signs of life at a high school a few towns over. Thought we could start there," Aaron suggested. He'd already gone through this plan with Daryl the night before but clearly he wanted to make sure they were a hundred percent on the same page.

Daryl nodded and said for what seemed like the seventh time, "That's fine."

Beth was busy sizing the car up. Could she just will herself into the back seat? Despite Daryl's offer to help her expand her abilities she hadn't made much progress. She could still feel solid objects but she had no impact on them. If they were moving, she only felt a rush of particles filter through her own transparent form. She hated when things passed through her. It reminded her how helpless and useless she was. Daryl hadn't suggested she try and touch him again since that afternoon on the roof. There was no point yet.

Daryl was hyper aware of the shifts of her mood and shot her a look as Aaron loaded up the trunk of the car.

"I need to get inside." It came out small and meek.

Comprehension dawned on Daryl's face. "How much space we got back here?" Daryl asked in a loud, stilted tone. Beth winced and tried not to giggle at how robotic Daryl became when he tried to act. Even when he wasn't talking, Daryl was still raw and honest. He had very little time for bullshit and pretence.

"About the same as a normal car," Aaron replied slowly.

Daryl ignored this and opened the door wide under the guise of 'checking the space.' "Can't be too sure," he announced to a very confused Aaron.

"I think you can be," Aaron murmured very quietly under his breath.

"Thanks," Beth whispered and slid into the car, squeezing past Daryl. She passed so close to him that for a second she was sure she could feel his breath on her cheek. Daryl shut the door behind her and declared it satisfactory.

Aaron, to his credit, didn't take it upon himself to ask whether Daryl had taken leave of his senses and merely got into the driver's seat.

Beth's intention to yodel any and every pop song she could recall to annoy Daryl was quickly forgotten when they got out of the gate. The last time she'd been out of the confines of Alexandria she'd been more or less out of her mind.

While Aaron and Daryl strategized in the front seat, Beth pressed herself up against the window and watched the passage of trees. They didn't pass any herds of walkers but she spotted a number of stragglers. They were more decayed than Beth remembered seeing before her demise. They moved more sluggishly too. Even when the car raced past, most could barely muster up more than a shuffle.

They arrived at the high school in reasonable time. Both men leaned forward and stared out the front window.

"Doesn't look lived in," Daryl observed.

"Look there," Aaron exclaimed and pointed. "See the way the bin's wedged under the door? It wasn't like that before."

"Is that to keep walkers out or someone in?" Beth speculated, breaking her silence. Daryl shot her a discrete look but he echoed her concern to Aaron.

Aaron considered but ultimately decided he had to check it out any way. Daryl sighed and hefted his crossbow up. "Fine but no splitting up. Keep it tight."

Beth got the sense he was talking to her specifically. She lifted her hands in acceptance.

The inside of the high school was dark. The windows had been boarded up or sprayed dark with paint. Beth got the sense that even if there weren't people in there now, there had been at some point. It stunk of rot and stale air. She sidled closer to Daryl, her mysterious pulse picking up. As much as nothing could happen to her she couldn't ignore the pressing atmosphere in the building.

Movement stirred further down the hallway and Daryl raised his crossbow upwards. Aaron already had his knife out. Beth reached instinctively for her own blade but remembered that it was no longer hanging on her hip having returned to its original owner.

A walker ambled around the corner and gnashed its teeth. They were black with old blood. It picked up speed at the scent of living flesh.

Sighting the creature down, Daryl spoke out of the corner of his mouth. "This one's recent."

"We were too late." Aaron seemed to be apologising both to Daryl and the remnants of the human shambling towards them.

Daryl shot the walker, neutralising the threat with a well-placed arrow. Beth was pleased to note that his aim hadn't deteriorated since she'd last seen him shoot.

"Nothin' we could've done," Daryl replied, staring off into the gloom. "May as well see what else we can find. Doubt there's much that hasn't already been scavenged but worth checking."

Beth trailed a little behind and tried to think what might be of value in this school. It was at least triple the size of the one she'd gone to and even in its dilapidated state it still held its expensive veneer.

After riffling through the nurse's office, the cafeteria and the science lab they'd manage to collect a bag's worth of useful items.

"What about the agriculture shed?" Beth suggested. She was looking at a map of the school on the side of the wall.

"What's in there?" Daryl questioned after checking to see Aaron was a ways off.

"Seeds? Maybe some garden supplies. We may get lucky and find an axe."

"Good catch, Greene," Daryl approved. He raised his hand and for an instant Beth thought he meant to clap her on the shoulder. It hovered near her before dropping uncomfortably to his side again. All his fingers curled into a fist and Beth's eyes suddenly stung.

The agriculture shed was out the back and adjacent to a small paddock which had fallen into disrepair. The roller door wasn't locked but rust and disuse had jammed it. It took both Aaron and Daryl heaving with all their strength to force it along its tracks.

It let out an almighty metallic shriek that pierced the quiet.

Daryl flinched. "That would have travelled."

"Agreed," Aaron muttered, turning around to scan the area. "We should move fast."

They were spurred into action, aided by Beth calling out valuable items to Daryl to cut their search time in half.

The groans were the first indication of encroaching danger.

"Time to go," Beth hissed, rushing back to Daryl's side.

"Let's hustle then."

"If it gets bad out there, don't worry about me," Beth insisted. Daryl's expression was exasperated when he locked eyes with her. His blue glare went right through her but Beth stood her ground. He had to be realistic. He had more to lose than she did.

"There is about five of them," Aaron advised. "If we hurry, we can get back to the car before they even draw level."

When she emerged, Beth was momentarily blinded by the harsh sunlight. She threw an arm up so that she could take in what was happening. Aaron had miscalculated slightly. There were seven walkers and they were close enough that Daryl had to shoot one with his crossbow. The arrow was abandoned in the creature's sunken eye socket as they were forced to keep moving.

With horror, Beth realised there were even more trailing down towards the car. At this rate the walkers would intercept them before they made it to the safety of the vehicle.

"Who taught you to count?" Daryl demanded.

Aaron ignored the question and swung his knife out to catch one walker in the side of the head. Half its face was already gone, leaving only a bloody ruin behind.

Beth's hands fluttered in front of her, anxious to help but unable to assist. Daryl turned to locate her and she saw the fear that flashed across his face.

"Behind you," he exclaimed.

As adrenaline pumped through her body, a walker careened past her. The remains of a business suit hung in tatters off its thin frame. It was completely oblivious to Beth's existence. It lunged for Daryl who had been thrown enough by what he thought was Beth's imminent demise that he didn't get the crossbow up fast enough to shoot it in the head. Instead he used it to strike it hard in the jaw. It reared away but Daryl was briefly off balance. That was all the other walker needed to grab his arm.

His ability to defend himself severely hampered, Daryl thrust his elbow into the monster's collarbone. It was enough to keep that snapping mouth at bay while he fished for the knife in his sheath. But there were at least two more circling closer to him and Aaron wasn't near enough to be of any assistance.

Fury and panic rose in Beth's chest with the force of a storm, helpless to aid the man she cared about. "No!" she screamed in anguish. The air pulsed around her and vibrated outward.

The walkers jostled to a halt and rotated in her direction. They had their heads cocked like dogs and Beth realised they were _listening_.

The one or two closest to Daryl and Aaron stayed focused on their squirming prey but the rest turned like one entity.

With no time to overthink what had happened, Beth began shouting random words at them.

"That's right, you bastards! This way!"

The one closest to her took a lumbering step forward. They couldn't see her or smell her but they could hear her.

"C'mon, you assholes. Come get a piece of this!"

Beth continued to holler nonsense in their direction, drawing from her inner reserves of strength. It wasn't enough to talk to them the way she would talk to Daryl who was already receptive to her voice. To penetrate their dead brains, Beth was throwing everything she had behind her yelling.

Using the distraction to his benefit, Daryl dispatched the two that were still trying to turn him into their meal.

"Did you hear that?" Aaron gasped, having dealt with his own assailants. He drew level with Daryl and while he wasn't looking directly at her, he was looking in Beth's direction. "I thought I heard a woman scream."

Daryl was breathing heavily, his knife still ready for an attack. His gaze was only for Beth.

"I didn't hear a woman," Daryl stated slowly, raking Beth over from head to toe with his eyes as if he couldn't believe that she was really fine. "Sounded like a wild pig maybe."

Beth understood that he was trying to deflect so Aaron wouldn't go charging off after the walkers to rescue a woman that didn't exist. She was too exhausted to be offended by the unflattering comparison to a pig. Her whole body was trembling, not having exerted this kind of effort since her death.

Her knees gave way and she collapsed to the ground. The impact jarred her spine. Beth groaned at the unforeseen solidness of the dirt beneath her knees, she was so used to the physical world having barely any impact on her.

"Beth!" the cry was torn from Daryl's throat and he raced forward at the same time Aaron repeated her name in bewilderment. "Beth?"

The last thing Beth saw as her eyes rolled back in her head and her body sagged into the ground was Daryl reaching for her.


	9. Chapter 9

Beth's eyes opened only for a fraction of a second. A sharp light scorched across her sight forcing her to close them immediately afterwards. Her eyelids were rough like sandpaper. There was a flurry of words flying around her head but she couldn't seem to understand them for all her effort.

She was just so tired. All her limbs were weary and Beth wanted nothing more than to sink back into restful slumber.

For a moment she was floating, unhindered by pain or weight. It was like she had jumped into a pool and the water had enveloped all of her. Cocooning her in sensory isolation and holding her in stasis.

Beth would have stayed like that forever but agony snaked through her body like electricity, burning in its wake. Her mouth wouldn't open, otherwise she'd have screamed. As quickly as the pain came it vanished.

There was a gentle palm against her cheek and Beth forced her eyes open again. Her vision was bleary and she needed to blink a few times to see clearly the person kneeling next to her, kindly stroking her face.

Lori Grimes.

Noticing Beth's return to consciousness, Lori smiled.

"Hi Beth."

Lori was regarding her with a maternal warmth that Beth hadn't seen since her own mother had passed away. Tears rose unbidden and Beth wordlessly groped for Lori's hand. Their fingers locked. Lori's skin was cool but she held Beth's hand tightly, completely solid.

"I told you she was alright," another voice interjected abruptly.

Beth groaned and rolled onto her back. She should have known that Merle was going to be here.

The look Lori shot him was a lot less compassionate than the one Beth received.

"And I told you I didn't need your opinion," Lori fired back.

"What are you doing here?" Beth directed her question at Lori who was still simmering in Merle's direction. Beth could only guess at what he'd been saying before Beth woke up. Likely nothing helpful or nice.

"I was about due to check in on my kids," Lori explained.

Beth remembered Merle saying something of the kind during their first conversation. Exhaling sharply, Beth tried to stand up. Her head spun and it took Lori's assistance to get her upright.

Beth didn't relinquish her grasp on the older woman even after she got her feet underneath her. It had been so long since she'd been touched by anyone else and Beth hadn't fully comprehended how starved for human contact she was.

"You look like hell," Merle observed, chancing to get a bit closer.

"You should see the other guy," Beth joked wearily.

"Is-"

"He's ok," Beth mumbled. Daryl would be worried out of his mind after her dramatic exit but at least he had been unharmed when she'd been pulled away. "He says hi."

Merle's smile lost some of its harsh edges and became slightly more genuine. "I just bet he did."

Lori glanced between the pair of them. "Daryl?" she clarified.

Beth nodded. "I spend most of my time down there with him."

"And he can see you?" Lori pressed, emotion leaking into her tone.

"Yes. But it's just him."

Lori bit her lips and leaned backwards for a beat. "I can only see them from a distance," she confessed weakly. "And it keeps getting harder to go back."

"Carl can't see me but he's doing well," Beth hurried to reassure. "He has a crush on a girl."

That earned a feeble laugh from Lori. "He used to have a crush on you," she pointed out.

Beth wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "That was puppy love. He really likes this girl and I get the feeling she quite likes him too."

Merle snorted. "Damn teenagers."

Lori ignored his derision. "What type of person is she?"

"Enid? Well kind of what you'd expect from a teenager who is surviving the apocalypse. A little bit surly but she's tough too. And a sweet girl underneath all her defences."

"Can't ask for more than that," Lori murmured. "And my baby?"

"Growing so quickly!" Beth described excitedly. She had loved seeing Judith again after so many months separated from the little girl. "She's crawling around now. I think she'll send Rick grey when she starts walking."

"Are we seriously going to waste time chit chatting about babies? Last time you didn't want to spend a single second here longer than necessary." Merle's disruption was rude but relevant. How long could she afford to be in Limbo while the world passed by?

"You don't have to go back," Lori noted quietly. "You've checked on them, you could move on with me."

Beth hesitated before replying. Move on? She could see her father, mother and brother again. But she wouldn't be able to go back. She'd be confined the same way Lori was. She would be able to visit maybe but unable to ever speak to Daryl. He'd think she had abandoned him again.

"I think your silence says it all," Lori said softly. Merle wisely chose to stay silent on the subject.

"I do want to move on," Beth insisted. "Just not yet. I've got unfinished business."

"Daryl's your unfinished business?" Lori spoke quietly so Merle wouldn't hear her. Her expression was a mixture of confusion and comprehension.

"He's a big part of it," Beth admitted. "I'm not sure I could move on until I understand _why_ he's my unfinished business."

An understanding smile graced Lori's face again. "Maybe not so difficult to understand but difficult to acknowledge?"

Beth couldn't answer that.

"Just think about what I said. It's nice to see the people we care about but we don't belong there anymore. You'll wear yourself down trying to be part of both worlds."

"Time's a-wasting," Merle snapped, his already thin supply of patience evaporating.

"Are you stuck with him?" Beth asked Lori with a wince.

Lori twisted her mouth in annoyance. "He's here every time I am. But he's not so bad when you begin to realise why he behaves like such an obnoxious idiot."

"I heard that!"

"Good. You're an obnoxious idiot," Lori repeated for good measure.

"I have to get back," Beth declared with a sigh. "If you see my family, can you please tell them I love them and that I'm thinking about them?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"Tell my no-account brother that I better not see him any time soon. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet too much to have him come along and ruin it."

Beth rolled her eyes at the circular way Merle phrased his message of affection for his brother.

"So 'don't die'? Got it."

"Knew I could count on you to take care of him, blondie." Merle's accompanying wink was knowing but fond.

…

Daryl was slouched low in the passenger seat of the car. He had been chewing on his thumb nail for most of the ride, one foot carelessly balanced on the dash. He was trying to project an image of calm nonchalance but he knew he was failing. His insides were churning with anxiety. Beth had saved his life but it had cost her. Something had been torn out of him when he witnessed her collapse and subsequent disappearance.

He was also attempting to pay no attention to the inquiring glances Aaron kept shooting in his direction. Daryl shouldn't have called her name out loud but he hadn't been thinking. Not only did he come across as crazy, talking to someone that wasn't there, but his cry had turned back half the walkers. Beth's sacrifice had been in vain. He might have lost her for good and for what?

Luckily Aaron still had his wits about him or he'd still be kneeling there in the dirt, staring at the space Beth occupied only seconds before. Aaron had herded him into the car and set off back to Alexandria. He'd managed to resist the urge to launch into an interrogation for now but Daryl knew this restraint would be temporary.

Aaron was a helper – he empathetically reacted to signs of pain and distress and did everything in his power to make things better. Daryl sincerely thought it was an admirable quality but by the same token, if Aaron tried to get in touch with Daryl's inner demons then it was going to be real hard not to punch the other man in the face.

Daryl had his chin tucked in and his shoulders raised in a defensive posture. He could only hope that would be enough to deter Aaron from trying to snoop in his business.

"So? Beth?"

No such luck.

Daryl pretended he couldn't hear the question but his jaw tightened at the sound of her name. Was that really the last time he would ever see her? He couldn't accept that. Didn't _want_ to accept it. He'd dealt with losing her once before and what was the point of returning her to his life only to have her stolen away again? It would be beyond cruel.

"That's the name of Maggie's little sister?" Aaron pressed. He expressed it like a question but Daryl could tell that he knew who she was.

"She died, right?"

That question twisted his gut. "Yeah."

Aaron's eyes flickered sideways.

"Watch the damn road," Daryl commanded gruffly. If Aaron was going to pry into one of Daryl's most painful memories then he could at least have the decency to not study his every reaction.

"Maggie talked about her," Aaron spoke again, more carefully now. "She said when the prison was destroyed that you saved her."

"She didn't need saving." Daryl cursed internally. He hadn't meant to engage but there was some part of him that needed to explain that Beth was far stronger than anyone had ever given her credit for.

"You kept her alive though."

Maybe he had protected her physically but no one understood that if anyone had been saved, it was him. His soul had died in the prison yard while his friends bled and his home burnt. Beth had brought him back to life.

"More balanced than that." Again, he couldn't fight the urge to hint that Beth had been more.

"What was she like?"

Daryl finally stared at Aaron. Did he think he was cleverly getting Daryl to open up? Aaron to his credit was fixated on the road in front of him. After a beat Daryl began to talk.

"She was a believer. And I don't mean the religious type neither, though I suspect she was that too. But she believed in people."

"What did she believe?"

"That there was still some good in them."

Aaron smiled as he stared frontwards. "What did you think?"

"I thought she was stupid," Daryl admitted. "At least at first. But it's hard not to believe decency still exists when she's around."

"She converted you then?"

Daryl scoffed at the suggestion. "More like she badgered me into it." He paused to remember the moment he'd realised how much Beth's company changed him. He could recall the exact second, the exact sound she'd made when she'd realised, exactly how much he'd wanted to kiss her before they'd been interrupted.

Daryl pinched his nose and pushed back against the tide of emotions rising in his chest. "She was easy to discount at first. She didn't look like much. Scrawny and short and too kind for her own good. But she was the most infuriating, stubborn force of nature." Words spilled out of him, entirely beyond his control.

"Sounds like I would have liked her."

"She likes you too." Daryl spoke without thinking but immediately regretted his words.

"You said her name back there."

"Doesn't mean nothing," Daryl snarled, anger making his accent deepen.

"I'm not judging you," Aaron insisted. "It's just you said it… well, you said it like you could see her."

"You think I'm crazy?"

"No! I'm just saying that if you did see her it would be entirely understandable."

"I'm not seeing dead girls in the forest." He hated the way he spoke, sounding so dismissive of Beth. But he wasn't able to keep hold of his temper with this line of questioning.

"It sounded like a woman screamed out there and with emotions running high it could have been a trigger."

"You sound like a shrink." Daryl meant it as an insult.

"Well that's good because I think you need one." Aaron was starting to heat up, his virtuous intentions not immune to Daryl's antagonism. Beth would have scolded him no end if she had been here to see Daryl lashing out at someone who was just trying to help him. That was enough to take the fire out of Daryl's fuse.

"Listen man, I know you mean well. But I _do not_ wanna talk about her."

Aaron seemed to accept that response. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude but I want you to know there is no shame in having post-traumatic stress. It can even manifest as hallucinations."

"For fucks sake," Daryl groaned. "You think I have PSTD?"

"I can't imagine what it would be like to lose Eric. I think it would be entirely justifiable to experience serious emotional fall out."

Daryl's fingers raked through his hair. "What is it with people making all sorts of assumptions? It wasn't like that."

Aaron clearly didn't believe him. "I'm just saying that if you need to talk about it, about her, I'm around and a pretty accomplished listener."

"You're an irritating do-gooder, is what you are," Daryl grumbled but there was no real sting to his words. A part of him even wanted to tell Aaron everything.

…

Thoroughly drained from the day, Daryl crept back inside the house to avoid running into anyone. God help him if he encountered Carol or Michonne. They'd take one look at him and know that something was wrong. They'd make Aaron's car grilling seem easy going.

Daryl made his way up to his attic room with every intention of grabbing a few hours of sleep. Helplessness had manifested as nausea and he had a throbbing headache. He would be no use to Beth if he could barely think.

Pulling up the stairs, effectively ensuring that no one could invade his privacy he turned towards his cot but was stopped in his tracks by the sight of a small figure on his bed. Blonde hair fanned out around the pillow.

Rushing to Beth's side, Daryl dropped to his knees next to her. Her cheeks were pale and hollow. The image of her flickered in front of him like the transmission of a faulty TV screen.

He desperately want to reach out and touch her, remind himself that she was real and not an illusion created by his trauma.

"Hi," she breathed.

"You're back." His relief was palpable.

Her smile was fragile and for an instant she was almost completely transparent. When she solidified again, Beth exhaled. Her face contorted in pain and Daryl's heart thundered violently in his chest at the sight of her discomfort.

"That was a tough one," she acknowledged.

"You should have been more careful," he scolded.

Beth lifted her eyebrows. "You don't get to tell me what to do, Daryl Dixon."

"The hell I don't when you're acting all reckless."

Her grin became teasing. "Relax, Daryl – it's not like I died. Again."

"Don't," he said sharply. "Just… don't, please."

"I'm sorry," she apologised tentatively.

"No, I am. I shouldn't have let you come. We're still figuring this all out and until we do, then we should be cautious."

Beth rubbed sleepily at her face. "Sometimes I don't think we'll ever figure it out."

"Hey, don't talk like that," he told her. "We will."

Beth was sceptical. "It was hard getting back this time, Daryl. I had to fight. I'm not sure I'm supposed to be here."

Daryl wanted to snatch those words out of the air and discard them but the sadness on Beth's face was harder to ignore.

"Where else would you go?" He sounded like a pathetic, frightened child.

Beth half-shrugged and snuggled deeper into the comfort of the bed. "On, I guess."

"Is that what you want?" he was afraid of the answer. What if it was? What if she chose to leave him again? How did she expect him to recover a second time?

But if she did tell him that it was her decision to move on then he couldn't stop her. He couldn't ask her to pick him and this half-life over a chance in heaven and being reunited with her family. And he had no doubts that when Beth Greene finally did leave this world, there was only one place she would be going.

Her blue eyes met his and even red rimmed and tired they were as pretty as a clear, spring day.

"No."

Such a simple, short word but it restored hope to Daryl like a spark to kindling.

"Then you stay," he announced. "As long as you want."

"Told you that you were chivalrous." Her teasing was warm but she brushed an errant tear away with the back of her hand.

"See, how can you leave when I still have to prove you wrong?" His voice was hoarse but he fought to regain control of his face. He wasn't ready for Beth to read all his secrets just yet.

"What's the next step of the plan?" Beth tucked her hands under her cheek and regarded him trustingly. It alleviated his uneasiness to see that she appeared more substantial.

"I think we need to ask for help," he confessed.

To his surprise, she didn't argue which spoke volumes about how worn-out she was.

"Ok," she agreed. "But can we just rest for a bit. Just for a minute."

"Of course."

"And will you stay? It's better when you're close."

"As long as you want," he echoed, settling on the floor with his back against the wall. His own need to sleep was forgotten immediately.


	10. Chapter 10

Beth crossed her arms and leaned against the porch rail.

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

Daryl flashed her an uncharacteristic smile. "I'm charming."

Beth fought to keep a straight face and not return his grin. It was a struggle because he had a mischievous glint in his eye and she was only human after all.

"If you say so."

" _We_ decided that we needed help," Daryl pointed out.

Beth threw her hands up in the air. "I know but now that I'm here, I'm a little-"

"Scared?" Daryl suggested.

"No!" Beth rejected.

Daryl chuckled and knocked on the door before she could raise any more objections.

"Daryl?" Aaron's face appeared in front of them.

Daryl glanced at Beth quickly before returning his attention to Aaron. "I need to take you up on your offer to talk."

Aaron's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "You want to talk?"

"For once," Daryl said evenly.

"Come in then." Aaron led them into the sitting room and Beth started pacing, filled with nervous energy. Daryl discreetly shook his head in her direction but she continued patrolling backwards and forwards.

Eric was reading on the lounge but stood when they'd entered.

"Daryl? This is pleasant surprise."

"Daryl wants to _talk_."

Daryl narrowed his eyes in Aaron's direction. "You don't have to make it sound like that. It's a conversation, not a murder plot."

Beth snorted and earned herself another withering glare from Daryl.

"I'll leave you to it." Eric stood and made to leave the room.

"No, stay."

Beth's mouth dropped open. "This isn't part of the plan," she hissed at Daryl.

"Better to tell both of you together now." He spoke to Eric and Aaron but Beth knew it was directed at her. "I'm sure you'll tell him anyway after I'm gone."

Beth's arms folded protectively across her chest. "Well go ahead then, since you've already decided."

Daryl inhaled and summoned his words while Aaron and Eric waited expectantly.

"You were right about yesterday," Daryl began. "I did see Beth out there."

Aaron leaned forward, his fingers forming a steeple over his knees. Eric didn't appear to fully understand Daryl's confession but he didn't interject.

"I told you, Daryl, it's completely understandable after everything you went through."

"I ain't finished."

Beth recognised the way his features twisted. She'd seen it when he had shouted at her outside the cabin, flushed with moonshine and fervour. She'd realised quickly that he hadn't been motivated by anger then and he wasn't now. Daryl was afraid. He was scared to open himself up and admit the truth to Aaron and Eric despite it being his decision in the first place. Beth immediately regretted behaving like a brat. He was doing all this for her after all.

Maybe she was frightened too.

"They'll believe you," Beth assured him gently. He pinned her with the full force of his piercing stare, seeing right through her and making her forget to breathe.

"Daryl?" Aaron prompted softly. The two men were sitting very still, trying not to spook the one sitting across from them.

Daryl laughed in a way that said he didn't find it funny at all.

"You know, I think I hallucinated her half a dozen times after she was shot. I'm not sure if I was crazy or if I just wanted her to be alive that badly." His fingers fidgeted as if seeking a weapon to occupy his hands. "I'm not an idiot, I know we're all on borrowed time but a few people don't deserve to die. So many people let this world beat them, let it break them, but she wasn't one of them."

Beth was rooted to the spot, transfixed by what he was saying. Daryl had never spoken so candidly before. Certainly not about her.

"She was a big loss," Eric said slowly, finally getting the context of the conversation.

"She told me I was going to miss her when she was gone."

Unable to bear the intensity, Beth spoke up. "I'm right here," she told Daryl at the same time Aaron said, "She's not gone. Everyone important lives on in your memories."

"You're half right, Aaron. Only Beth isn't only here in my memories. She's just… here."

He studied her again and Beth inhaled sharply. It was like he was looking at her to change the world and Beth didn't want to disappoint him.

"'Here' as in in here?" Aaron tapped his chest above his heart.

"No," Daryl snorted. "That would be stupid."

Aaron and Eric's relief was short lived.

"I mean 'here' as in _here_ ," Daryl explained and gestured around the room. "Well, specifically there." Daryl pointed in her direction.

"It's rude to point," Beth informed him, which made him smile weakly.

"I beg your pardon?" Aaron burst out, eyes wide.

Eric lowered his hand on to his partner's knee. "How about we let Daryl finish explaining," he suggested evenly.

"Oh well they think you're insane," Beth blurted out, reading their disbelief all over their face.

"I know how it sounds," Daryl hastened to explain. "But we can prove it."

"We?" Aaron repeated in a daze. He summoned his poise. "Daryl, you're in a safe space. But you need to acknowledge that what you're seeing isn't the real Beth."

"Whichever one she is, she's flipping you off right now," Daryl revealed.

Beth blushed and lowered her hand. "You didn't have to tell them I was doing that." She had gotten used to nobody witnessing her actions.

"So you genuinely think the ghost of Beth Greene is here right now?" Eric asked, moving to take in the whole room.

Beth rubbed her forehead, trying to alleviate the familiar spikes of pain.

"You ok?"

Beth squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. She'd dealt with worse.

"Is who ok?" Aaron pressed, peering in the direction Daryl was talking.

"I think he's talking to Beth," Eric guessed astutely. Aaron opened his mouth, perhaps with another question but Eric spoke instead.

"You said you could prove it?"

"Yeah. Look, I sound nuts. I'm not disagreeing on that front but give me two more minutes and I bet you'll believe me."

Aaron and Eric exchanged a glance and an entirely wordless conversation before Aaron inclined his head. Beth could tell he didn't believe Daryl yet but his affection for him overrode the doubts.

"It's simple. You go into the kitchen and write down a word. Pick any word you want and I'll stay here. Beth will look at the word and tell me what it is."

"This sounds like a bad magic trick."

"Do I look like a magician to you?" Daryl demanded impatiently.

"What do you want us to do with the paper, Daryl?" Eric asked, attempting to pacify the situation.

"Throw it out, rip it up. Eat it for all I care. Just don't bring it back in here. There can't be any chance I've seen it or heard you say it, understand?"

"We do," Aaron guaranteed. They got hesitantly to their feet before making their way to the kitchen. Beth followed closely, keeping her eyes fixed on them rather than look at Daryl. She didn't think her heart could beat any harder.

Aaron slid the kitchen door shut and Eric fetched a pen and paper.

"I was right to be worried," Aaron said in hushed tones.

"He does seem highly strung."

"Highly strung? He just told us he can see a dead girl. He just _talked_ to her in front of us!"

Eric tapped the pen against the paper. "And the least we owe him is the chance to prove that he's telling the truth."

Beth experienced a rush of gratitude for Eric's willingness to keep an open mind. Not that she held Aaron's reaction against him. His fretting over Daryl's mental state only reinforced how much he cared for him.

"Are you saying you believe him?"

Eric scrunched his face up in contemplation. "I guess I'm saying I don't not believe him. And that means there is a possibility that Beth is standing here listening to you call her boyfriend crazy."

"He's not my boyfriend," Beth exclaimed even though neither man would hear her. "We're just friends." The statement was technically true. Couldn't be much more than friends when you couldn't even touch each other.

"Daryl, doesn't like it when people make assumptions about them," Aaron advised Eric with raised eyebrows.

"Alright so I'm supposed to believe this girl clawed her way back from death to be with him because they're _just friends_?" Eric asked sceptically.

"I am standing right here." Beth spread her hands wide in frustration, wishing she wasn't blushing furiously.

"I mean I love you," Eric continued, "but if I ever die I am staying in heaven where there is a never ending supply of chocolate and toilet paper."

"You romantic," Aaron sighed sarcastically.

Eric winked at his partner then gestured towards the paper. "Do you want to pick a word or shall I?"

"Please pick," Beth begged, tired of hearing too many home truths with no ability to weigh into the conversation.

Eric scribbled down a word and then lifted it up to what he thought was an empty kitchen.

His handwriting was poor but Beth managed to distinguish the word 'penguin' before Aaron tore it up and threw the paper scraps in the bin.

Not bothering to wait for them, Beth returned to the living room. "The word is 'penguin' and boy, are they nosy!"

Daryl watched her return to the corner of the living room and cross her arms. She avoided meeting his eyes, still uncomfortable with the way Aaron and Eric had dissected her intentions.

The men walked in a few seconds behind her.

"Penguin," Daryl informed them without preamble. "What did you say in there? She's annoyed."

"Wha-what did you say?"

"Penguin," Daryl repeated edgily. "That's just plain dumb."

Aaron collapsed onto the couch in a state of disbelief. "How did you know?"

"What have I just been telling you, man? Only reason I've been seeing her is because she's here!"

"I don't mean to interrupt, but Beth? She's a petite, pretty blond right?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Because she's standing in the corner of my sitting room," Eric explained casually.

Beth started and discovered Eric was looking right at her. The shock of his declaration was almost enough to make her forget that Daryl had just said she was pretty.

"Holy shit!" Aaron cried, tumbling to his feet.

"Calm down, darling," Eric requested levelly.

Aaron took a step closer to Beth. "Oh my god he was telling the truth."

…

Daryl observed Aaron's reaction with extreme satisfaction. Served him right for encouraging Daryl to talk about feelings. Well Daryl saw that invitation and raised him the ghost of Beth Greene. All for the price of one.

Beth and Aaron were examining each other like they were exhibits in a zoo.

"You can see me?" Beth whispered.

"I can see you?" Aaron's response sounded just as much like a question.

"Nice to meet you, Beth," Eric introduced himself with a wave, definitely taking it the best out of the pair of them.

Aaron suddenly tried to touch her arm but his attempt passed through her like a cloud.

"Please don't do that, I don't like that," Beth said dryly.

Daryl got to his feet and tugged Aaron a safe distant away from the girl. Neither of them had expected that they'd be able to see her once they believed Daryl.

"We told you to get your help, not to treat her like a science experiment."

"I am sorry," Aaron apologised sincerely. "But this is fascinating."

"Calls into question everything we know about life and death," Eric agreed.

"I don't have any profound answers," Beth pre-empted.

"Do you know why you're here?" Aaron inquired, finally sinking back onto the couch and reaching out absently for Eric's hand. Daryl swallowed with jealousy that he couldn't hold her hand while Beth took a place next to him. She sat closer than was necessary but all they had was proximity.

"I don't have much memory of the first few weeks of being dead," Beth advised. "I know now that I was shot but I didn't remember until after I'd been following the group for a while."

"And you've been here the whole time?"

Beth didn't know how to properly explain the concept of limbo but she tried. "When I'm not here I'm in a place that's in-between." Her fingers twisted in her lap.

Aaron propped his chin up in the palm of his hand. "Incredible." He cast a subtle peek at Beth's forehead causing Beth to touch the skin there self-consciously.

"Is Daryl the only one who can see you?" Eric asked.

"Until now," Daryl replied.

Eric mouthed a word to Aaron and Daryl could've sworn that word was 'romantic.' Heat swam up into Beth's cheeks and Daryl suspected he was missing something but wasn't certain he wanted to be let in on the joke.

"I was in the kitchen remember?" Beth stated pointedly.

They shifted uncomfortably whereas this just puzzled Daryl further.

"How did Maggie take it?"

"We haven't told her yet," Beth disclosed.

"You haven't told your sister you're ali- here?" Aaron corrected his phrasing at the last minute.

"It's complicated," Daryl grumbled.

Beth ignored his attitude. She thought he didn't understand but he did. Aaron and Eric didn't mean what Maggie meant. If it went wrong with these two that didn't matter. But Beth couldn't bear it if Maggie found a way to shut her out. He didn't think that would ever happen but all Daryl's reasoning had fallen on deaf ears.

"You have to tell her, Beth," Aaron encouraged mildly.

"I'm not saying I wasn't going to ever. Just not now." Beth was defensive.

Daryl tried to subtly signal that Aaron should back off and thankfully he was paying attention.

"Of course, Beth." Aaron lifted his hands soothingly. "We won't do anything until you're ready."

This promise pacified Beth who seemed slightly overwhelmed from being able to converse with someone besides Daryl. Seeing Aaron and Eric interact with her was conflicting. In one sense it induced a comfortable warmth that settled pleasantly in his chest. However, an unwelcome but just a present voice pointed out the he could no longer jealously hoard her to himself.

But when all was said and done, Daryl would chose Beth's happiness over his own selfish desires every time.

"Now that we actually know you exist, can we formally invite you to dinner?" Eric appealed.

Beth paused before responding. "That's so considerate but-"

"She can't eat," Daryl interrupted. Beth would spend five years finding a polite way to say what he was quite happy to blurt out.

Eric slapped his palm to his forehead. "Of course, how stupid."

"Not every day you get a ghost as a house guest," Beth joked, trying to set them at ease.

"Cards?" Aaron suggested.

"Can't touch anything." Beth wiggled her slender fingers in the air for emphasis. Daryl appreciated that Aaron and Eric were going out of their way to make Beth feel included but they were just drawing attention to all the things she couldn't do.

"This explains how you won all the time though," Aaron griped, recalling the game where Beth had helped Daryl cheat his way to victory. She had the grace to appear somewhat embarrassed.

"I've got it," Eric announced, grasping Aaron's shoulder in excitement. "Charades!"

"I can actually play that," Beth concluded after a moment's consideration.

"Oh god no," Daryl groused.

Eric's enthusiasm was contagious and now Beth was beaming at him. "Oh god yes."

"I don't play games." Daryl intended to manoeuvre his way out of humiliating himself by having to act.

"Please?" Beth's bottom lip popped out in a pout that should have been annoying but veered into adorable. "I did get shot that one time."

Daryl spluttered at her blatant use of guilt. "You play dirty, Greene."

"You have no idea, Daryl."

And while Daryl wondered if anyone would notice if he snuck off for a cold shower, Aaron sniggered and stated, "I want to be on her team. I have a feeling we'll win."


	11. Chapter 11

"You could at least pretend not to hate all Deanna's ideas."

"You don't think this is stupid? _And_ a waste of resources?"

"Of course I think it's dumb. But it'll be good for morale."

Daryl wasn't sure how he found himself being the voice of reason again but Rick seemed to find himself obstinately opposed to any suggestions Deanna might make. Her latest, a Halloween party, had drawn his scorn. Everyone else had thought it was a good idea. Even Daryl.

Rick had been ranting about how they should be focused on training at dinner while Daryl, Carl and Michonne had swapped concerned glances across the table.

Their trials in Terminus followed by the events of Grady had rattled his friend and the cracks were beginning to show. Daryl definitely didn't think they should become complacent but at the same time he didn't want to be jumping at shadows the way Rick seemed to be.

Michonne had pointed out the townsfolk were spending plenty of hours in increasing numbers training with Rosita and Tara, who had both shown the most patience and teaching ability. Michonne had led a couple of classes and Daryl himself had agreed to pitch in when they discovered enough crossbows to run a lesson.

This logic had fallen on Rick's deaf ears. Even Carl's attempts to remind his father that there were plenty of kids in Alexandria that would enjoy some sense of normality were brushed aside. Though Daryl secretly suspected that it was Deanna's promise of the town party which would inevitably offer a young teenager a number of opportunities to sneak off into the dark with a cute girl if they so desired.

Daryl was more interested in the beer. He'd been doing plenty of sneaking around with a pretty girl and it tended to leave him more frustrated than before.

At his wits end, Daryl had suggested a run to get Rick out of the walls that seemed to be driving him so crazy. "Supposedly there's a hunting store nearby."

"It'll have been scavenged clean by now," Rick muttered.

"Doesn't hurt to ty," Daryl retorted optimistically, knowing Rick would absolutely be right.

"Fine. Someone has to be doing something productive."

Michonne winced at Rick's sour mood. If even she couldn't get through to Rick, it was bad. While Rick always tended to be more serious in nature, one word from Michonne could have him grinning from ear to ear and Daryl didn't think for a second that it was a coincidence they had ended up in the same home.

And as if he were college student that needed his independence but never quite learned to survive solo, Daryl had been told he could have the attic. He had rolled his eyes but you didn't argue with Michonne needlessly. He had considered sharing a house with Carol but honestly her Stepford wife routine was creeping him out no end. And even though he knew it was an act, it also meant cheery, well-meaning townsfolk were always around swapping recipes with Carol while she smiled brightly. She also had a tendency to ask him how he was doing whenever they were alone with those eyes that told him she'd know if he tried to lie.

After Rick, Carol was the least trusting of their new neighbours. But at least she had the brain cells to do so discreetly.

Dinner thankfully came to an end and Daryl made a quick exit to his room in the attic. He pulled up short when he noticed an unexpected figure. He was surprised to find Beth there, sitting cross-legged on his bed. She had a tendency to wander at night, checking in with Maggie and Glenn.

"Yikes," Beth said without preamble.

"You heard that?" He gestured downstairs.

"Oh yeah. He's not adjusting is he?"

Daryl sighed and slumped against the wall. "Not by the looks of it."

"He's so used to fighting everything and everyone," Beth assessed, plucking ineffectually at the blanket on his cot. Daryl's eyes were drawn to her moving fingers, breath stalling when he thought she might actually pinch the fabric and exhaling in disappointment when her fingers ghosted through the material.

"Be that as it may, he's making them think he's insane. These are good people."

Beth smiled lightly at his choice of words.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself," Daryl chided her with a pointed finger.

Beth threw her hands up in the air, the smile transforming into a smirk. "If you say so."

Daryl waved Beth further up on the bed and took a seat at the foot of it when she pulled her legs clear. He had to clean his crossbow if he was going to go on a run with Rick. Beth wrapped her arms around her knees, as if attempting to take up as little space as possible. She looked so solid and so real sitting there it was easy to forget everything else. Her chest rose and fell with her breath and if you looked closely you could actually see the pulse flutter in her neck.

Daryl had developed a bad habit of trying to examine her without her catching him. So far he'd been decently successful.

"Not with your sister then?" he asked innocuously. Since they'd revealed her existence to Aaron and Eric, all three of them had been trying to persuade Beth that it was the right time to tell Maggie. But just as Rick stubbornly refused to budge on his position so too did Beth.

Against all logic, she'd argued she didn't want to tell Maggie until there was something to tell. Daryl couldn't believe that he'd once thought she was meek and soft. Beth was stubborn as mule and unyielding when she got an idea in her head.

Despite her obstinacy frustrating him no end, Daryl was always quicker to stop pushing the issue than Aaron or Eric. It just made her upset and agitated. Daryl hated distressing her but more than that, the more emotional she got, the more likely it was that Beth would be dragged back to limbo. In the end, she had agreed to a compromise. When Beth could touch something, make it move, then she'd let them talk to Maggie.

Daryl thought this was her clever way of trying to get out of ever telling Maggie, because she deep down didn't think it was an achievable goal. She'd been dead for months and made very little progress. What she hadn't banked on was Daryl, Aaron and Eric taking this deal and running with it.

Eric had the most free time as Aaron had all but forbade him from leaving the safety of Alexandria while his ankle was giving him trouble. So he spent chunks of his day with Beth working towards this aim. And when they weren't doing that, he would show Beth around the town properly, explaining who everyone was and how everything operated.

It meant Daryl got to spend less time with her but he knew it was worth it if she felt connected once more to the living. He selfishly wanted her all to himself but he couldn't be her only link. The stronger her connection was to this world, the stronger she'd be – it made sense.

"I was," Beth began and then shuddered. "But it was date night."

"Yikes," Daryl said wryly echoing Beth's choice of words from early.

"Yeah!" She lifted her eyebrows significantly. "So I got out of there quick."

"What did you do instead?" He focused on making sure the cables of his bow were waxed, rather than look at the slight girl or think over much about how this simple conversation was easily the best part of his day. Instead he channelled his attention on the routine task at hand. He noted his supplies were running low and hoped there actually would be some maintenance provisions at that hunting shop.

"I went and sat with Sasha for a while. She's on guard duty."

"Huh," Daryl grunted, letting that one sound express his concern for Sasha. Unlike Maggie and himself, she'd still been struggling with her grief, letting it overwhelm her.

"I think she's doing better," Beth speculated slowly. "At least I don't catch her crying so much anymore."

"She cries?"

"Only when she thinks no one is looking."

Daryl grimaced and came to the conclusion that they needed to make more of an effort with her. Not that he could offer much in the way of help. He would likely just say something stupid and make matters worse. Though he supposed he could just make sure Beth was there to feed him the right thing to say. Maybe Maggie could reach her?

"So do you want to come on the run tomorrow?" Daryl offered tentatively, hoping she'd say no. He was still spooked after what had happened last time and even though she couldn't get hurt, Daryl knew there were worse things than injury.

To his relief she shook her head. "I can't. I said I would help Eric with the Halloween thing."

"You gonna help with the heavy lifting?" Daryl teased. On Aaron's advice he'd stopped freaking out any time Beth made a quip about being dead. As he'd explained, denial would help neither Daryl nor Beth. Still the jokes usually sat heavily on his tongue right before he vocalised them and he always watched her to see if it caused her any pain but as time passed she seemed less susceptible to the agonising headaches.

Beth lifted one of her arms and flexed. "I can lift anything. Do you see these guns?"

"No," Daryl replied with a deadpan expression.

She wrinkled her nose in his direction and dropped her arm. "I can supervise!"

"You certainly tell me what to do more than anybody else."

"If I could throw something at you I would."

"Back at ya, Greene."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, Beth seemingly content to watch him clean his crossbow. Daryl was never much for long conversation but he found he didn't loathe small talk as much as usual when it was Beth. He would have let the moment go on forever but unfortunately he was unable to repress a yawn that welled up inside him and spilled out.

"I think that's my cue to leave," Beth joked, dragging herself up onto her feet.

Daryl wanted her to stay but didn't have the courage to ask. Besides, she didn't sleep that he knew of so how boring would it be to watch him doze? He didn't want to know if he snored.

"We didn't do it today," he pointed out, trying to keep his tone even to disguise the way his insides roiled.

Beth stopped in the middle of the floor, fingers flexing nervously. "No, we didn't."

It was another one of Aaron's ridiculous ideas. He had suggested that it would help Beth touch things if they occasionally gave her an object she was emotionally drawn to. Daryl was that object. He'd been glad Aaron had suggested this in private because Daryl had blushed and stuttered in flustered outrage. Aaron had calmly reminded him that he was the first person to see Beth and that meant something. After all, they wanted to do all they could to help Beth, right?

Daryl had been unable to argue at that point. Of course he wanted to help Beth and would be willing to do anything necessary. He just wasn't sure why they had to complicate things even further. But he had agreed as Aaron knew he would. Daryl had then unwisely asked Aaron's help with broaching the topic with Beth. He should have known by the shit-eating grin that Aaron was about to say something he wouldn't like.

"Just go ask your girlfriend to hold your hand."

Which had sent Daryl into another fit of discomfort.

Beth had taken it better than him but Daryl left out the part where Aaron called her his girlfriend. Which was absurd.

Telling himself not to be a chicken, Daryl extended his hand to Beth palm upwards. They had done this every day for over two weeks with no success. Every time her hand glided through his, he had to fight off a wave of disappointment and watch her face fall. It was hard to see.

Beth sucked in air and held her breath, letting her own hand hover over his. The unwanted hope sparked in her eyes as she lowered her fingers down. His skin tingled as she got closer and he inhaled himself as she closed the last bit of distance. There was a prickle, which he'd come to expect. But then a completely unexpected heat and for the briefest second he felt pressure against his hand. His eyes met hers excitedly just as her hand slipped through his.

She snatched it back, expression darkening.

"This is pointless," Beth snapped, bottom lip trembling very slightly. "It's never going to work."

He was taken back by the intensity of her reaction but he couldn't pretend he didn't understand it. He desired nothing more than to feel her fingers entwined with his. He could torture himself with the image in perfect detail. He had the reference point after all.

"It's not pointless," he fired back, voice heating but staying low. He didn't want anyone coming to investigate why he was shouting at walls.

"It's the same every time," Beth said, beginning to deflate.

"Bullshit."

"I didn't touch you did I?" Beth demanded.

"No but something different just happened! That heat and I could feel you there for a second."

"It's in your head, Daryl," Beth dismissed. But she didn't sound sure.

"Like you are?"

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it? If you convinced me that you're not a hallucination, then let me tell you that what I just felt wasn't imaginary."

Maybe he was overselling what had happened but after two weeks of nothing, even the slightest change was momentous.

Beth scuffed her foot against the floor as she processed what he had said. She wasn't angrily rebuffing him which was a good sign. Then again, she probably wanted him to be right as much as he did.

Finally she half-shrugged. "I'll guess we'll just see what happens tomorrow."

And then she just faded out of his room much to his annoyance. She'd gotten better at controlling where she went and the first time she'd done it, he'd mistakenly thought she'd disappeared to limbo and he'd worn himself ragged with worry.

Looking back there were plenty of signs that it was not the same thing. It was a gradual process until eventually she vanished. When she was taken to limbo it was abrupt, like she'd been torn out of existence.

Still, understanding what was happening and knowing she was in no danger didn't lessen his irritation. Beth had decided to run away in her confusion leaving him frustrated and alone in an empty room.

Daryl kicked off his shoes angrily and threw himself back on the bed. Unable to think of anything else but how close he'd come to touching her once again.

…

Beth stared at her hand in fascination. Daryl had sounded certain that they'd almost established contact. Beth wasn't so sure. She'd experienced the heat too, like a small burst of flame against her hand but it was so quick and then it was gone that she was almost certain she had fantasized it.

With a start she realised Eric was talking to her.

She blinked and focused back in on the man as he rifled through his closet, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"You're supposed to be helping Beth," he scolded.

So he had.

"I'm sorry," Beth hurried to say. "I got a bit distracted."

"Thinking of anyone in particular?" It was a pointed question.

Beth tilted her head. "Subtle."

Eric laughed out loud. "There is so little gossip in a small town in the apocalypse. I get it where I get it."

"We're not like that," Beth insisted. And they weren't - officially Daryl and her had been nothing but platonic. Officially. Eric quite clearly didn't believe her.

"And is that why you're obsessing about almost holding his hand?"

"I haven't touched anyone in months," Beth cried. "I'd be obsessing about holding your hand too. In fact, here," she extended her hand, "Let's try."

"Oh Beth, I couldn't possibly. I'm a taken man."

Beth groaned in exasperation while Eric turned back to the cupboard in amusement. Telling Eric and Aaron had been one of the best decisions they'd made but they took great joy in pushing her buttons and treating her as if she were just as alive as anyone else. Beth was relieved they weren't stepping on eggshells and acting like she was a freak of nature but she could have stood not having them grill her about her love life. Which was about as dead as she was.

Eric grinned when she told him just that. "That's clever. Nice play on words."

"So what's so important that you asked if we could postpone practicing touching things?"

"I told you but you weren't listening."

Beth batted her eyelashes at Eric, letting him feel the full effect of innocent, sky-blue eyes.

Eric pointed accusingly at her. "Unfair!"

"Just tell me again. I promise I'll pay attention this time."

"I need you to help me pick out a costume for me and Aaron," Eric said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Beth blinked for a second before shrugging. "Why not. My schedule is pretty empty today."

"I know Aaron doesn't like to draw attention but I'd like to do a couple costume."

"I think that's sweet," Beth informed him sincerely and leant forward on her knees. Daryl had told her that despite the end of the world happening, there were still people who felt it was alright to say snide things about Aaron and Eric being together. That just blew Beth's mind. She had always believed that in the face of the adversity they were dealing with, it would make people appreciate their fellow man and be kinder to them. She should have known better.

Eric's cheeks coloured slightly but he smiled brightly before glancing at the clothes again. "Our options are limited obviously but I figured between the two of us we could figure something out."

Beth took a step closer to Eric, examined the clothes and wracked her brain for an achievable costume. They'd been so good to her and Daryl that of course Beth wanted to assist.

"Show me what you have," Beth directed. Eric shifted through his cupboard and gave ideas but most of them depended on having far more resources than they had.

Beth was starting to worry this would be harder than she was able to surmount. But then she saw a glimpse of black in the far corner.

"That!" Beth gasped and pointed.

Eric pulled out the suit in confusion. "This is a funeral suit, Beth."

She ignored the way he said that and bounced on her toes excitedly. "Does Aaron have a similar one or can he get one?"

"I suppose so." He still sounded uncertain.

"You and Aaron can goes as the Blues brothers. From that old movie!"

"It's not that old," Eric griped as a reflex but then he began to consider it. "They _are_ iconic characters."

"All you need are suits, hats and sunglasses to nail it," Beth added.

"Aaron does love that movie," Eric concluded.

"Then it's settled," Beth announced with a grin, enjoying Eric's obvious enthusiasm. It was enough to make her wish that she was going. However, there was a next best thing.

"Now that I've helped you, I have a favour to ask."

Eric caught sight of her face and lifted his eyebrows. "Uh oh."

"Nothing bad, I promise."

"You look like you're about to suggest something that won't go over well."

Beth rubbed her hands together. "I am."

Eric threw the suit onto the bed dramatically before giving Beth his entire attention. "Go on."

"I want you to help me find a costume for Daryl!"


	12. Chapter 12

"This is the stupidest I've ever felt," Daryl announced to the room that already held too many people.

"Ever?" Beth clarified with a wicked grin, suggesting his discomfort was only serving to amuse her.

" _Ever_ ," Daryl spat out. "Why do I have to wear a costume?" he demanded of Eric and Aaron, who were leaning against the kitchen bench and barely disguising their own hilarity.

"So we don't spoil the fun," Eric suggested casually.

"We're wearing costumes too," Aaron added, putting his hands in his pockets and regarding Daryl.

Daryl hated being the centre of attention even if there were only four people looking at him. He plucked disdainfully at the green shirt he was wearing. "This was your idea wasn't it?" he asked Beth accusingly.

"Eric had a hand in it."

"Robin Hood? Really?"

Beth shrugged and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Seemed obvious."

"And easy," Eric explained.

"I can tell!" Daryl griped. They had simply gone out of their way to find green clothes and a feather to glue on to a cap. "I look like an asshole."

"But a very cute asshole," Beth assured him, coming closer to see him better.

Daryl's mouth fell open then snapped shut. He was glad Beth was examining his costume rather than his face because colour spilled into his cheeks. She had a real talent for putting him on the back foot, making him feel like an idiot but an inexplicable happy one all the same.

Eric nudged Aaron subtly but not discreetly enough that Daryl didn't notice. He fixed a glare at both men, which didn't seem to intimidate them much at all.

"I would dress up if I could," Beth murmured to him softly, claiming his attention back from Eric and Aaron's smug satisfaction. The teasing had left her voice and she was speaking earnestly. "It's kind of lame and silly but it feels normal."

Daryl rubbed the side of his face and winced. "It's possible I overreacted and it ain't so bad," he conceded.

It was a lie, the costume made him look ridiculous, but it was worth it when he saw the ensuing smile. There was nothing in this world quite like Beth beaming at him. It warmed him all the way down to his bones.

Realising he had stared at her in silence for a beat too long, he cleared his throat. "Maybe we can find a sheet to throw over you? You could go as a ghost?"

Beth tipped back her head and laughed, effectively breaking the tension.

"Did you get anything with Rick yesterday on the run?" Aaron queried, switching topics to business.

Daryl shook his head and tugged the snug, lime-green polo over his head, careful to keep his back away from Eric and Aaron. He pretended not to notice the way Beth hastily averted her eyes or the way it stung that she found his scars too horrifying to gaze upon. He reached for his own shirt and quickly pulled it on.

"He's got to blow off some steam and that was half the point," Daryl said.

"He's not settling in too well is he?" Eric asked, delicately.

If had been anyone else, Daryl would have rushed to defend his good friend but he knew Eric and Aaron didn't harbour any ulterior motivations for inquiring. They wanted Rick to integrate as much as Daryl did.

"He's having a hard time adjusting," Daryl confessed. "We've seen the worst of the worst out there and it starts to haunt you after a while."

Aaron nodded understandingly. "I get it. It's not something you just shake off. We just have to try and find a way to meet in the middle."

Daryl thought this was generous considering Rick didn't want to compromise, he wanted the Alexandrians to see things his way or get out of it.

'It'll happen with time," Beth assured with a confidence that Daryl didn't think he could muster.

"Why are you so different?" Eric pressed unexpectedly, looking squarely at Daryl.

His fingers twitched awkwardly. "Different how?"

"Rick seems so defensive all the time but when Aaron suggested going out to find people, you agreed. Why?"

"I just think there are still some good people out there." He refused to even glance in Beth's direction when he spoke. She'd either be smirking knowingly or she'd have the other, more terrifying expression on her face. The one she'd had last time he'd admitted she'd changed his mind.

Daryl snatched up his crossbow. "Got guard duty," he said gruffly by way of explanation. "I'll see you tonight."

"See ya later, Robin," Beth sung out making Daryl sigh. Her teasing mood had obviously returned.

…

Beth had made her own excuses and left soon after Daryl did. It hadn't been her imagination that there had been a charge in the air before he had curtly strode out the door. She hadn't expected him to take off his shirt or that the sight of his bare back would make her blush and duck her chin down. The scars were still heart breaking but they played second to the tight muscles that lay under the skin or the ever intriguing tattoo that Beth still hadn't deciphered from a distance.

His naked skin made her chest tight; a very visceral reaction for a dead girl. And while it was very tempting to drink in the visual of him with impunity, what was the point? Her blood could burn with desire and she'd be unable to do anything about it but drive herself crazy.

She pulled her hair out of its habitual ponytail and raked her fingers through it. It might be an illusion but her forehead almost felt feverish. Beth tugged the hair back into the band, tightly and orderly, constructing a false sense of control. Her body had been the only thing she could regulate and even that was proving traitorous these days.

Beth strolled the streets with no real destination in mind. She just wanted to bask in the sense of excitement that permeated the air, like the community was holding its breath. Normally when people were expectantly poised like this, trouble was on the horizon – it was a nice change that it was just anticipation for a party.

A group of laughing children passed her, eagerly discussing costumes and the possibility of candy. Some of them were young enough that they probably had no strong memories of what the world had been like before all the chaos and darkness. For them, Halloween was a unique novelty.

For a moment it was easy to pretend that everything was fine. But only for a moment. Beth came across a group of individuals sporting bladed weapons of every variety. They were being instructed with enduring patience by Rosita.

Of all the new comers, Beth found her to be the most interesting and the one she most wished she'd met before her death. Abraham was a good fighter and funny in his own abrasive way and Eugene was inventive, but something about Rosita resonated with Beth.

Maybe it was because when you first looked at her, she didn't seem like much. She was beautiful in a way that Beth thought she could never be, sensuous and sexy, not to mention petite. But Beth knew from watching her that she possessed a strength and spirit to rival any of the warriors she'd met. Rosita could fight as well as anyone else and had the ability to silence with nothing more than a glare. Beth was a little jealous, no one took Rosita for granted.

Beth stood next to her for a few minutes just watching her teach. She kept her expression free of exasperation or frustration when they struggled but from her vantage point, Beth could see the thoughts racing behind her darks eyes as she assessed and analysed each individual's performance.

Beth sighed and continued on her way, her feet eventually taking her to the home Maggie shared with Glenn. Neither of them were home of course, both too busy with their role in the community to be at home during the day. Glenn, unlike Rick, had whole heartedly embraced the concept of Halloween and had delightedly planned his costume. She expected he'd be where Eric and Aaron were now, helping to decorate the church for the party. It was sacrilegious maybe but it was also the only building big enough to hold that many people.

Maggie would be with Deanna, learning at her side how to be a better leader. Part of Beth was surprised because Maggie had never shown any interest in being in charge, but another part of her wasn't. Her sister was level headed, kind and fair. She wouldn't make decisions simply to enhance her power or serve herself.

Beth had eavesdropped on enough conversations her sister had exchanged with Glenn to know that Maggie doubted her ability to be an effective leader. Beth wished she could tell her she was worried about nothing and she'd do just fine. She had to settle for silently agreeing with Glenn's vigorous reassurance.

Beth trailed upstairs, never feeling more like a spectre than when she did now, haunting Maggie's home in her absence. Feeling an overwhelming sense of disconnect, Beth dropped onto the side of bed she knew Maggie slept on. The mattress didn't give under her weight but Beth didn't care. She could almost smell Maggie's presence and if she closed her eyes it was like she was being embraced by her.

…

"Do you think my dad's gone crazy?"

Daryl froze, a spoon of peanut butter half way to his mouth. Carl was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"I'm the dick dressed up like Robin Hood so I don't know if I can throw stones," Daryl grumbled in an effort to deflect the question.

"Is that who you are?" Carl asked with a raised eyebrow. "Not your best look." At least _he_ could be trusted for an honest opinion.

"What are you supposed t'be?" Daryl shoved the spoon in his mouth and gave Carl a once over.

"A cowboy."

Carl looked the exact same he always did. Plaid shirt open over a plain T-shirt, gun on his hip. He was wearing his hat low on his forehead but that didn't hide how long and unruly his hair had gotten. It was almost as bad as Daryl's these days.

"You look the same as always," Daryl contradicted.

Carl shrugged unapologetically. "I wouldn't even go but Enid and the others thought it could be fun."

Daryl got the sense that Carl didn't give a rat's ass about 'the others' and that his interest started and ended with Enid. So they were both doing things they didn't want to for a girl.

"Fair enough." Daryl could respect that.

"So? Crazy?"

Daryl blew out a sigh and wished he'd gone to Michonne with these questions. "C'mon man, you know your dad isn't crazy. He's just-" Daryl floundered to find the right words. "Anxious."

Carl scoffed at the answer he'd received, clearly not believing Daryl.

Daryl screwed the lid back on the peanut butter. "You don't like what I have to say, don't come to me."

Carl rolled his eyes but the beginnings of a grin curled at the corners of his mouth. Daryl had never once coddled him and as someone crossing the divide from teen to adult, Carl appreciated that.

"So have you made a move on Enid yet?" Daryl innocently threw the spoon in the sink and watched the boy change colour.

"We're just friends," he spluttered, all too quickly revealing exactly how he felt about the young girl.

"Sure," Daryl agreed amicably.

"We are!"

Daryl smiled sharply. "I said I believe you."

"Oh shut up, Robin Hood," Carl grumbled throwing his hands in the air and stalking out of the room.

"That's Mr Hood to you," Daryl shouted after him with glee.

He hated slinging on the feathered cap a little less after that exchange, though it lasted until he ran into Carol who was carrying a plate of brownies. She appeared very much like she wanted to say something mocking but since that would undermine her cover as the sweet lady who baked, she couldn't make fun of him.

Instead she pinched his cheek and told him how adorable he was. That was worse. Her eyes gleamed with mischief as they walked the rest of the way together in companionable silence.

She bumped him with her shoulder by way of farewell and disappeared into the throng of people. Daryl made a mental note to seek her out when he had a spare minute. Beth and Rick were consuming most of his attention these days but he hadn't forgotten that Carol was still overtly suspicious of Alexandria. Daryl hesitated to agree with either of them but he found Rick's theory they were sitting ducks more credible than Carol's fear of wolves in sheep's clothing.

He made a beeline towards Abraham, Glenn and Maggie who had waved them over. Abraham was sans costume which wasn't really a surprise but Maggie had made a paper crown and Glenn had found some red paint or makeup to put on to simulate blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He had also tied a black sheet around his shoulders like a cape. In response to Daryl's raised eyebrow, Glenn had explained he was a vampire. Unlike Daryl, Glenn didn't seem in the least bit bashful of his appearance and made a big show of slinking around and popping up behind kids and adults alike to spook them.

"Least someone is having fun," Daryl noted with a shake of his head. The weight of the crossbow at his back was heavy but reassuring and, considering it tied the whole costume together, kind of necessary.

"We're all having fun," Abraham corrected and passed him a beer.

"I'll drink to that!" Daryl tapped his bottle against the other man's and scanned the crowd. He spotted Aaron and Eric, flirting like teenagers much to the obvious amusement of Michonne, Enid and Carl who were also seated nearby. But he was searching for a very specific person. He thought he caught a glimpse of blonde hair amidst all the swirling colours and music that was loud but not too loud that it would echo beyond the walls.

That's how it was for most of the night. Daryl straining to see in the dark and only getting flashes of Beth. When the dancing began, he swore he could see familiar, pale arms waving above the crowd. Her absence made him realise how much she made up the reason he was there in the first place. Still he could hardly get pissy at her for enjoying her night and relishing in being surrounded by people. As much as he hated it, he knew that she missed being part of a community.

When it got too hot and too claustrophobic, Daryl snagged another beer (only his third for the evening) and made his way toward the exit of the church.

"What's a nice boy like you doing in a place like this?" someone called.

Daryl chuckled under his breath as Beth appeared seamlessly by his side. "You drunk?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth. She leant closer to hear him over the din and her proximity made the blood rush to his head.

"Not this time. They didn't have any moonshine," Beth quipped, falling into step beside him as he left the loud, stuffy building.

"You got a taste for it?"

"Can't drink anything but!"

"I've created a monster," Daryl observed, raising his voice now they were out of earshot of the others. He nursed his beer with one hand and readjusted the strap of his crossbow with the other. Beth's own hand hung by her side and he'd had just enough liquor that if it was possible, maybe he would have claimed it.

"You had enough?" Beth gestured her chin back towards the party.

"I reckon so," Daryl admitted. "It was getting a bit much towards the end."

"I'm impressed you lasted that long," Beth praised with a grin. "And you kept the hat on all night."

Daryl had honestly forgotten about the hat with its stupid feather. Grimacing he took it off and examined it distastefully.

"Don't be offended by this."

"Offended by what?" Beth wrinkled her nose in confusion.

Daryl responded by flinging the hat as far away from himself as was humanely possible.

Beth arched an eyebrow at his behaviour. "Feel better?"

"Hell yes!" Daryl replied. Beth tried to regard him with disapproval but the smile crept through all the same.

"What do you want to do now?"

Daryl considered his options. He was a little tired but he didn't want to relinquish an opportunity to spend some time with Beth alone.

"We could hang out on the roof, watch the drunks try and stumble home?" he suggested with a shrug.

"Sure," Beth agreed amicably and they set off towards the house.

The air between them was thick with unsaid words that Daryl didn't have the courage to voice out loud even after consuming more beer than he'd done in months. He wondered if it was obvious that out of everyone in the entire community, probably the entire world, there was no one else he'd rather have for company than Beth. If she knew then she wasn't saying anything.

The pair of them clambered up to the roof, Daryl making considerably more noise than Beth. She hushed him with a laugh. "You'll wake up Judith! Or bring Rick out to see who is climbing all over his roof."

"Nah," Daryl dismissed her concerns, "He knows I come up here now and again. 'Sides, I think Michonne persuaded him to go to the party and Judith is with Denise."

"Denise?"

"She said big parties gave her anxiety."

"And Rick actually went?" Beth pressed incredulously. "I didn't see him."

"Michonne persuaded him," Daryl repeated with emphasis.

"Ahhh," Beth said knowingly.

He'd barely gotten a chance to settle when Beth spoke again. "Can I ask you a difficult question?"

Where had that come from? Daryl glanced at her and found she was staring at her feet, tracing her finger absently along the overlapping tiles of the roof. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she'd want to ask but adrenaline dumped into his system anyway, preparing him for the worst.

 _No._ "Sure."

She stayed quiet for the longest time. So long in fact that he thought maybe she'd changed her mind about asking whatever it was she was going to ask.

But eventually she cleared her throat and locked eyes with him. "What happened to my body, Daryl?"

Whatever he'd been expecting to come out of her mouth that wasn't it. He awkwardly pulled at the label of his beer bottle, cursing that he'd not drunk more but finding he had no longer had any interest in finishing the beverage.

"Why do you want to know?" He sounded gruff and he was definitely stalling. Unfortunately Beth saw straight through his attempts to delay answering.

"I think having some answers might give me closure."

"What the hell do you need closure for?" That came out as a growl. His alarm and fear making him sound like a world class prick.

"Don't snap at me," she shot back immediately. He couldn't remember when Beth had last been cowed by his angry words. "It's my right to know, don't you think?"

Daryl rubbed his fingers across his forehead, trying to soothe away the building headache and the shame for his answer. "'course it is. I'm sorry I barked at you."

"That's ok," Beth forgave him instantly.

"Just don't like thinking about that day if I can help it." Her scolding had provoked some candour but he found it hard to meet her eyes after saying that.

"Me either."

He chanced a look in her direction to see if she was making a terribly-timed joked but she appeared sincere.

Daryl blew out a sigh and realised he owed her at least the truth as far as he knew it. "I don't know what you remember after…"

"After it happened? Not much."

Daryl's grip on the bottle was so tight his knuckles were turning white. "It was a bit chaotic. When I saw you fall, I couldn't think right and I just shot Dawn."

"I figured she was dead," Beth said coldly, not demonstrating much sadness that the woman who robbed her of her life was dead too. Daryl wasn't guilty about it either. If he could shoot Dawn again for what she'd taken from him, he'd do it without hesitation.

"Then I carried you down to your sister."

"Was I real heavy?" Beth tried to lighten the mood and Daryl snorted but it was humourless. He'd seen and experienced a lot of awful things in his life but nothing came close to the sheer pain of holding her lifeless body in his arms as he gently took her towards Maggie. She'd been so small and light against him but his arms had shaken the whole time, his entire body breaking with anguish.

Beth's expression settled into introspection while she examined Daryl. He knew she was likely reading every thought he was having all over his face but that had been one of the worst days of his life and his heart still ached with the memory.

"She was distraught, we all were. Wasn't anyone who could think straight enough to do something." He winced, knowing where this story was heading and wanting nothing more than to have a different end.

"Turns out we'd stayed still too long and out of nowhere there was a herd of walkers bearing down on us."

He lapsed into a terse silence, reliving the events of that fateful day that had left him nothing but a shell until she'd returned.

"So?" Beth prompted softly.

"So-" he exhaled deeply. "So we left you."

Beth slanted away from him in shock and Daryl cringed. He hastened to explain further. "There were too many of them, we all needed to be able to fight and run."

"I understand," Beth assured him in a trembling voice, which simultaneously told him that she didn't. Her eyes were overbright and Daryl prayed she wouldn't start to cry. It was destroy him all over again if she did.

"I didn't want to," he swore, trying to catch her gaze. "And I didn't just leave you on the ground. We put you in the backseat of a car and propped some debris up against the doors so they wouldn't be able to get you. You have to know that all I wanted was to do right by you."

She didn't respond to his declaration, staring out into the dark off the roof. They could both hear the faint hum of the music but the celebration seemed like it was miles away.

"Beth," he entreated, "I didn't want to tell you and I _know_ you deserved better. I should have protected you better."

Still she kept her mouth closed, lost in thought.

"Say something," Daryl finally pled hoarsely. "Please."

Beth shifted in her spot so she was facing him. Daryl felt like he was facing a firing squad, waiting for her to tell him he had failed her so completely.

She didn't say anything but instead regarded him with serious blue eyes. Then unexpectedly she held out her hand, palm upwards.

"We didn't get a chance to do this today," she said roughly.

All of a sudden he could breathe again. She had heard it all and wasn't banishing him from her life or dramatically disappearing to some ghost realm where he couldn't follow.

With unsteady fingers, Daryl reached out to close the distance between them. His hand hovered barely an inch above hers and Daryl entreated any deity that might still have interest in them to let him touch her just this once.

Beth closed her eyes as he lowered his palm towards her.

There was an enormous crash and a blaring horn exploded into the quiet night. Daryl and Beth both scrambled to their feet straining to see in the darkness. People were beginning to scream.

"What happened?" Beth cried.

"Someone drove into the walls," Daryl said grimly.

 **An: so this was a kind of angsty chapter. What happened to Beth's body is up for debate because we didn't see and I've seen this theory is shared online. Just a note regarding reviews; everyone knows by now I try and respond to all reviews but I've had difficulty with this site for a few months. I either don't get the review notification so I don't know about it or I try and reply and get this error message saying the review I'm replying to doesn't exist. So if I ever don't reply, please don't be offended.**


	13. Chapter 13

Beth and Daryl both ran across the roof with little to no regard for their safety. They clambered into Daryl's small attic room, Daryl extending and snatching back a helping hand for Beth. If her mind wasn't reeling, the gesture would have made her chest ache. However, there was no time for apologies or guilt. Daryl snatched up the crossbow and slung it hurriedly across his shoulders before grabbing the long knife that had once hung on Beth's belt.

She paced edgily even though this arming only took a matter of seconds. Her impatience fuelled by the knowledge that once they were on the streets there was very little she could do.

"It'll be ok," Daryl hastened to assure her over his shoulder as he shoved down the stairs roughly. Beth wished either of them believed that. Her stomach twisted into knots as she thought of everyone gathered in the one space, most without weapons.

The streets were deceptively clear when they burst out the front of the house and took off running in the direction of the impact.

"Should we go to the church?" Beth asked breathlessly, trailing in Daryl's wake.

Daryl shook his head and didn't alter his course. "Need to slow down whatever comes in. Give them a chance to get weapons or hide."

When they saw the first lot of figures moving in their direction, Daryl raised his crossbow instinctively.

"Stop," Beth called, spotting Tara at the front. She was quickly shepherding a group of people mainly comprised of children back towards safety. Her expression was determined as she swept her gaze over Daryl but barely paused to explain. "Rick and Michonne have already gone that way. I'll meet you back there."

Daryl silently acknowledged her words, barely breaking stride. Beth's eyes swept over the faces of the children, which were tight with dread and tears. Beth prayed that none of them would come to any harm tonight.

As much as she wished she knew where Maggie was, Beth could see the priority had to be the intruders or else none of them were going to be safe. The next shapes that moved into their line of sight were shambling and groaning. Daryl clutched at his crossbow and came to an abrupt halt, Beth skidded to a stop beside him. She counted five, manageable for Daryl if he used the crossbow.

Beth wished she had a gun or a knife, anything to assist.

Daryl shot down three in quick succession, felling the most substantial and fresh walkers. Then he pulled the blade to dispatch the next two. Beth glanced down unbidden as she stepped over the felled body of one of the walkers. Decay had not yet claimed this victim, the damage on the corpse was inflicted by carelessness instead of rot. Through the gloom, Beth could make out a peculiar marking etched on the woman's forehead.

"Strange," Daryl remarked quietly, having noticed it as well.

"Something weird is going on," Beth agreed, a shiver tracing down her spine as she began to scan the night more intently.

A gun shot vibrated around them and Daryl cursed. "That'll have more walkers than before down around us."

"Bet it was one of the Alexandrians," Beth guessed as they settled back into a jog. As frightening as it all was, the sad fact was that it wasn't totally unfamiliar. Beth's family and friends were used to this, they knew how to push down the fear and fight smart.

Beth was so focused on reaching them that she almost missed the figure skulking in the shadows, attention locked on Daryl.

Her blood ran cold; this man was looking at Daryl like he was prey rather than an enemy. Steel caught in the moonlight.

"To your left," Beth cried.

Daryl, trusting her implicitly, pivoted and launched himself in the direction of the stalking man.

Caught off guard by Daryl's unexpected attack, the man fumbled his knife. Daryl didn't even hesitate to draw his own weapon ruthlessly across his throat. Blood spilled out of the gash and bubbled around the corner of his mouth. Eerily, he smiled as he gurgled and slid to the ground to die.

Lips curled in distaste, Daryl jammed his knife into his forehead. They couldn't risk another walker shambling around.

"Thanks," he grunted at Beth.

Beth ignored his gratitude and pointed. "He has the same symbol."

With a better view, Beth realised it was the letter 'W' scared into their flesh. Wrinkling her nose in confusion she tried to figure out what was happening. It made sense that there were living people behind the attack but this seemed to be more organised than she realised.

Another person stirred in the dark and very nearly endured the same treatment as the unnamed man until they tugged down the bandanna covering their mouth.

"More and more walkers are coming in," Carol told Daryl without pause. She was dressed in dark colours and had replicated the W on her forehead with dark brown blood. Beth grimaced as she realised Carol must have used walker blood.

"I'm more concerned about these assholes," Daryl noted and toed the prone body of his latest conquest.

"They're mutilating people. Hacking them up."

Beth shuddered. "We should keep moving," Beth announced, even though only Daryl would hear her. These people were roaming unchecked through their community. A shut door would keep out a walker but Alexandria wasn't designed to keep out insane people.

"Enough people went to deal with the walkers, I'm going to stay back and catch these ones as they try to get through." Carol pulled her bandanna back up and set off without farewell.

"She has a point," Daryl decided grudgingly, appearing torn on the issue. Part of him would want to fight side to side with the others but they were probably the safest of anyone.

"We can't leave the others defenceless," Beth spoke, tipping the scales.

"Medical centre then. We'll work out where we're needed from there."

A walker that had made it past the first line of defence snarled behind them. It was missing an arm and Beth wondered if that was curtesy of Michonne? Probably not – it wouldn't have been standing in front of them if it had encountered Michonne.

Daryl killed it with no effort while Beth's fingers twitched with futility.

The medical centre was buzzing with activity as people carried the injured in. The ashen doctor had his face set with steel as he shouted commands at people to help. Beth was surprised to find Denise was also assisting. She was breathing hard and there was a streak of blood above her eyebrow but she was keeping it together as she attended to a particularly vicious looking cut.

Daryl reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "What do you need?"

"Stop them from coming closer," she requested breathlessly, while she struggled to stop the bleeding. Denise didn't need to explain who 'them' was.

Tara had obviously not made it back to the hole in the fence but was standing with a large machete not three paces away from where Denise worked. Hair had spilled out of her ponytail, the result of a scuffle but she was still composed.

"Yo," she said by way of greeting.

"Back at you," Daryl replied grimly before loading his crossbow and sighting down the street. Beth didn't think they'd have to go far to find trouble tonight. It was coming for them.

"This is messed up," Tara observed harshly, keeping her eyes level but Beth couldn't stop herself from looking down. The ground was already littered with walkers and bodies, some of which she already recognised as Alexandrian citizens. Beth was ill to her stomach to see that some were missing limbs.

Daryl didn't get a chance to comment on the state of events as a number of walkers came groaning out of the dark. Enough of them to present a challenge.

Beth decided she had been idle for too long. She exchanged a significant glance with Daryl who silently told her to be careful. Summoning her will and concentration, Beth manifested behind the stumbling group.

Waiting for the exact right second, Beth opened her mouth and screamed loudly, standing so close the walkers' backs that she was almost amidst them.

Exhilaration flood her veins when the trick worked for a second time. The proximity and volume was enough to distract the walkers, who turned awkwardly to determine if they'd ambled past a viable meal.

Tara and Daryl took advantage of the interference to carve through them. If Tara thought what happened was too lucky to be coincidence, she kept her silence on the matter.

A number of times they deployed this tactic; Beth creating a high pitched diversion to create openings for Daryl and Tara to kill with greater ease. It worked up until a point. Up until two humans branded with the same 'W' tried to attack Daryl when they saw that the archer was out of arrows and Tara's machete still lingered in the skull of a walker.

Beth tried to draw their attention, make them hesitate. But with alarm she realised that humans were too smart to fall for it. They barely seemed to hear her and worse, they possessed higher reasoning and it only took them a fraction of a second to assess that the call they'd hear was not as great a threat as the two people standing with weapons before them.  
Additionally, a quick flick of their eyes revealed that the space behind them was empty.

Heart in her mouth, all Beth could do was watch as Tara and Daryl were forced to deal with them without her assistance. Luckily these two fought erratically and sloppily. Her friends weathered the onslaught and waited for their opportunity. Tara saw an opening first and shoved her blade up into the ribs of her assailant before coming to Daryl's aid.

Beth's shoulders slumped when Daryl was free and clear. Her throat was raw and painful from all the noise she'd been making but she ignored her own discomfort preferring to check over Daryl for any obvious injuries. His arm was bleeding but not badly. She hovered awkwardly at his side, trying to get a better look at his injury. He exasperatedly waved Beth away, trying to convey that he was fine without saying it. Instead of being reassured, Beth noted the way his arm shook slightly. He was tiring from the almost constant fighting. The walkers hadn't come in overwhelming numbers but they had come consistently.

A shriek tore the air causing Daryl to spin in Beth's direction but Tara to twist in the other.

Two of the violent men were chasing down a teenage girl who was only just managing to stay ahead of them.

"Damnit!" Daryl swore taking off after them. Tara hesitated, itching to follow and help but the walkers still posed a threat and she wouldn't leave the injured without protection.

Beth didn't have the same indecision – when Daryl moved she moved. Her laboured breath was ringing in her ears as the followed the screams and calling of the men. A desire for violence surged inside of Beth and she vehemently wished she could wrap her fingers tightly around those men's throat for the destruction they caused.

The teen barrelled through the front door of a large house which subsequently swallowed up her pursuers.

Daryl grunted with the exertion but he didn't slow as he burst into the home. Beth screwed her eyes shut and flashed through the house.

She stumbled as she reappeared by Daryl's side. "Upstairs."

Daryl shot forward at Beth's advice. The teen had barricaded herself in the master bedroom but there was no lock and she was holding the door closed with her body. The men were banging loudly on the wood, trying to force it open.

Their eagerness almost drowned out the hysteria on the other side of the door. Daryl grabbed at the shoulders of one and wrenched him away from the door before laying into the other.

These men were no more skilled at fighting than the ones they'd encounter previously but they'd hyped themselves up into a frenzy and seemed not to feel any of Daryl's strikes against them. Daryl, to his credit, was so furious and disgusted that he barely noticed when they hit him too. Instead, every time a punch landed on Daryl's arms, stomach or face, pain laced through Beth.

It killed her to be powerless to stop the man she cared about getting hurt.

Daryl managed to break free long enough to slash his knife across the stomach of one. The heat and stink of innards filled the air. As much as it made her want to wretch, Beth was thrilled that it was back to one on one. However, seeing the other incapacitated and slowly dying induced a type of panic in the remaining opponent. He lashed out with renewed vigour, twisting himself around Daryl so that he had no room to use the blade again. They wrestled with each other trying to gain the upper hand or enough space to use a weapon.

Beth was fairly confident that Daryl could outlast but movement caught her eye. There was another one, a wiry woman who was bleeding heavily, where only four fingers remained to grasp her knife.

"Daryl," Beth cautioned, tense with fear. Catching sight of the new danger, Daryl tried to free himself but the original attacker saw his reinforcement and held on tight. In his current position, Daryl couldn't take two.

Unable to think clearly and pulse pounding, Beth stood between the woman and Daryl. She couldn't see Beth there but Beth felt the weight of her crazed eyes upon her. She licked her lips like Daryl was a meal. Beth wondered what these people did with the limbs they stole from their victims and immediately wished she hadn't.

She was rooted to the spot, unable to help as this wild-eyed monster slunk ever closer. Daryl fought violently, panic setting in as he began to comprehend the extent of his predicament.

He was going to die. The thought struck Beth hard. After everything they'd been through, everything they'd been struggling for, he was going to get snatched away from her. Beth couldn't bear the image of Daryl, bleached of life, wandering aimlessly through limbo.

Energy prickled across Beth's skin like electricity as she threw herself forward with every inch of will she had inside of her. Her palms slammed into the shoulders of the woman, sending her reeling back.

The woman's mouth fell open in shock as she tried to find the source of the blow but only found air. She tried to re-establish her footing, raising her knife, when Beth hit her again. The woman crashed into the wall. She dropped the knife and clutched at her shoulder. She was afraid now and this made Beth unexpectedly gleeful.

Her eyes were wide, blinking furiously. She stilled and tilted her head as if she was actually looking at Beth.

"Are you an angel?" The question was whimpered and awed.

"No." Beth struck out once more and the woman went tumbling down the stairs, smacking her head hard against the wall. She sat there for a moment but then her eyes glazed over and the body slumped to the side, leaving a smear of blood in its wake.

Beth jumped when she felt a presence at her shoulder.

"Did you do that?" Daryl was by her side, having finally gained the upper hand and dispatched his opponent.

Beth couldn't answer, she was transfixed by her hands. She had touched something. She had impacted the world in some meaningful way.

Lifting her head, she rounded on Daryl and pressed her hands to his chest. He was solid beneath her, his lungs working overtime and the speedy beat of his pulse drummed against her skin.

"Beth-" Daryl breathed, motionless under her touch.

Beth didn't let him finish. Still high on the rush of having saved his life, Beth curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt and jerked him downward so her lips could crash against his. If the act of killing someone had her pumping with life than the sensation of his mouth on hers made her dizzy.

Adrenaline caused them both to shake, making the kiss clumsy and inelegant. Her nose bumped his and he stumbled in shock but it was this human error that made it perfect for Beth. After so long of not being able to touch anything, without being able to touch him, Beth clung to him greedily. This was Daryl's arm around her, clutching her so tightly it almost hurt. She thrilled in the pain, basking in every sensation that came with being a living, breathing person again. Beth leant into him, frustrated that he was apparently holding back. Hadn't he wanted to do this as long as she had?

Her arms wound around his neck as she nipped at his bottom lip. Daryl groaned and pulled her closer. One rough hand slid along her jaw before tangling in her hair. Beth couldn't remember a time when she'd been more complete.

Joy overwhelmed her and she was falling, first her heart swooped and then her body followed. Daryl was suddenly gone and dark surrounded her. The beat of her heart echoed as if it was contained in steel.

"Beth?" Merle's face swam in front of her and Beth despaired. She shut her eyes in an effort to ignore Merle and when she opened them again, a new face hovered above her. A face she didn't recognise and couldn't see properly due to blinding, yellow light.

"Beth?"

Her name again but different.

Confusion and anxiety filled her as the light was once again swallowed by the dark. Something crashed into her, stopping her heart and freezing her lungs and then she was thrown backwards.

When her brain caught up, she was curled up at the top of the stairs. The worry on Daryl's face faded the longer he stared at her until it was replaced by something else. Beth was startled to conclude he was blushing.

As if on cue, her own cheeks filled with colour. Had she really just kissed Daryl? And not just kissed. She had quite literally thrown herself at him. She raised a tentative hand to touch her lips which felt swollen and tender. That made Daryl avert his gaze hurriedly. Couldn't dismiss it as vivid imagination then?

He cleared his throat and asked, "You alright?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Bit sore. Might have a broken rib."

"I hurt you?" Beth was aghast.

He stared at her like she'd grown a second head. "From fighting," he clarified.

Beth wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. Ever since they'd gotten drunk together and set that stupid house on fire, she'd felt close to him but it wasn't until he told her that she'd changed his mind that a new desire had woken inside her. A much more physical urge that hadn't dissipated with her death. And what did she do when she finally got the chance to act on it? Act like an awkward, inexperience loser.

Daryl mercifully didn't try to speak more, instead offering her a hand to help her get up. Beth tried to take it, almost trembling with exhaustion but her hand fell through his. Embarrassment transformed into something darker that sat heavily in her chest. Daryl gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers into a fist.

Beth tiredly pulled herself to her feet just as the door opened and the teenager peeked through the crack.

"Are they gone?"

"Yeah you can come out," Daryl gruffly informed her, gazing determinedly at the ground.

Suddenly unable to look at him either, Beth stumbled down the stairs and out into the night.


	14. Chapter 14

Aaron tore his gaze away from the window where the dead roamed with impunity down the street. It was a problem but it would keep. They had to regroup. The lunatics with the W carved into their forehead had been dispatched, either by the hands of the Alexandrians or by becoming snacks for the very walkers they had led to the doorstep.

As he moved away from the window of the medical centre, he passed Glenn and clapped him lightly on the shoulder. Glenn offered him a smile in response, a tight, tired smile but a genuine one all the same. He had one of their handheld radios and was talking to Sasha and Rick.

Sasha was stuck on the guard point but a number of people had scrambled up the wall to join her when chaos had erupted around them. Rick was holed up in another house with a view of the armoury. He wanted to make a break for it. Michonne convinced him to wait. Another thirty minutes more and injuries would be attended to and improvised weapons could be found.

Across the room, Eric and Tara were trying to keep the children present calm. Aaron's heart ached for them. They had so few causes to celebrate and this one had literally crashed and burned.

Aaron approached Daryl, who had arrived on the doorstep with a rattled teen, Angie on his heels. Beth had been a pace behind him, looking more pale than usual.

Daryl had set about helping the others in the room until Denise's keen eye had spotted his frequent wincing and instructed him to sit so that she could take a look at him. Daryl had grudgingly removed his shirt and carefully situated himself so that his back was against a wall.

He wasn't fast enough that Aaron didn't see the mess of scars across his back, confirmed a theory he and Eric has shared in the privacy of their bedroom. Daryl had stared straight at him, daring him to make a scene, to pity him. Aaron schooled his features and kept his composure but exchanged a look with Denise over her patient's shoulder. Her mouth was pinched in anger but she didn't let it distract her.

She swiftly identified a broken rib as the source of discomfort.

"Knew it," Daryl grumbled, settling his gaze on the floor. Something was off about the man and Aaron suspected it was his lack of shadow.

Aaron was unusually perceptive, even in a crisis, and it didn't take a genius to notice that as soon as they'd stepped across the threshold, neither Beth nor Daryl had so much as looked at each other.

In fact, Beth had disappeared suspiciously quickly. Eyes darting furiously to anywhere but the surly hunter, she had announced she was "going to see what I can find out." She'd vanished before Aaron could protest.

She'd reappeared a few short minutes ago and whispered what her scouting mission had revealed into Eric's ear so that he could pass it along in a subtle manner. Then she'd proceeded to hover on the periphery, acting more like a ghost than Aaron had ever see her do.

He was missing something and he wasn't sure what. He knew both of them and normally, if one of them had been injured, the other would be hovering unbearably. Instead Beth had restricted herself to stealing peaks at Daryl from across the room as Denise bound his ribs tightly. And Daryl, who usually seemed to be constantly checking her to make sure she was safe, was stubbornly engaging the ground in a staring contest.

Aaron held onto his curiosity for the time it took for Denise to tape the bandage in place and force some painkillers onto him. Ever since the card game, anxious Denise didn't seem in the least bit scared of Daryl.

Once she was out of ear shot and Daryl had stumbled to his feet, muttering curses about how pushy Denise was, Aaron had grabbed his shoulder.

"I want to talk to you upstairs."

Something in his tone told Daryl that disagreement wasn't an option. It would be a correct instinct – their behaviour was making him concerned. Even with all the shit that was bearing down on them, he didn't expect to see either of them so lost.

Daryl nodded curtly and followed as Aaron led him towards the stairs, tugging on his shirt as he went. The neon green polo was splattered with blood and the hilarity of first seeing Daryl in it was well past forgotten.

Their path took them right past Beth who seemed to be shrinking into the wall. Not just figuratively but actually melting into the wall. Aaron narrowed his eyes at her flushed cheeks and fidgeting.

"I need you too," he instructed out of the corner of his mouth while Daryl studiously examined the roof.

Beth swallowed and disappeared, presumably upstairs. If not, she was going to be on the receiving end of a scolding fuel by all of Aaron's anger and grief. He still couldn't process that the strong walls he'd come to love had been battered down. People he'd known had died on streets that were supposed to be safe. People he loved could have died. It was only by luck's hand that Eric was sitting unharmed.

"Needs another coat of paint," Daryl observed, still resolutely inspecting the ceiling.

"Did you hit your head?" Aaron demanded. He wasn't joking. The two of them were acting like utter weirdos and he needed to resolve this problem before moving on to more life threatening ones.

They found Beth in the master bedroom, which wasn't used much except for when the doctor needed to spend a night to oversee a patient. She was in the far corner and almost immediately Daryl stood across from her in the other edge of the room. His arms were crossed defensively.

Aaron closed the door so no one would happen by and see them talking to air. As soon as they had privacy he spoke.

"What is wrong with you two?" he demanded.

Beth started at his question and Daryl scowled. Neither of them spoke.

Aaron glared at both of them and hoped they felt the weight of his disapproval and annoyance.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed but something terrible happened here tonight. Something that needs my, and your, full attention to fix." He jabbed his finger for emphasis. "I want to focus on that but I can't if I'm worried about you two."

Beth at least had the grace to look embarrassed, softening slightly and meeting his eyes across the room. Daryl was a harder nut to crack.

"People are dead and more people might still die. And I want to protect everyone I can but I need to know you're both alright." Anger was giving way to earnestness. As frustrating as he found them both right now, he cared about them deeply.

"You're acting like you killed somebody," he concluded, throwing his hands up. At this, they swapped the briefest glance across the room.

Aaron's hand covered his mouth in shock. " _Did_ you kill someone? Was it an accident? Was it Eugene?"

"What? No!" Daryl spluttered, finally breaking his silence. "Why would we kill Eugene?"

"He says some very stupid things sometimes," Aaron surmised.

"We didn't kill anyone, Aaron," Beth hastened to reassure him.

Daryl quirked an eyebrow. "Well nobody that didn't carve a letter into their head anyway."

Beth rolled her eyes and Aaron's shoulder slumped in relief. Already they were behaving more like normal. And there were no unexpected bodies.

"Then what is it?" Aaron prompted gently. He directed the last statement towards Beth. She was going to be the easiest to sway using emotional appeals. He could see the way she'd been affected when he'd reminded her of everything that still needed to be solved.

She sighed nosily and sat on the bed – she was going to give in first! Aaron resisted the urge to pump his fist in the air and settled for internal cheering. His face retained its composure.

"Nothing is wrong," Daryl interjected, sounding urgent. "Nothing to worry you with."

"You can trust me, you know." Again he spoke to Beth, ignoring Daryl and his attempts to intervene. Worry was well and truly being replaced by curiosity.

"It's private," Daryl fired back protectively.

Aaron pressed his palm to his heart. "And I will treat it with the confidence it deserves."

Yeah, he was fucking with them now but they were behaving like children and if no one was dead then he wanted answers. He couldn't imagine what kind of trouble Beth could get into that would make her this sheepish. She was incorporeal for goodness sake.

"We-" Beth began

"Oh god," Daryl groaned and covered his face.

"We kissed."

Aaron blinked at the pair of them. "You what now?"

…

Daryl's practically pressed his nose to the glass and watched the passing walkers. He wished he was out there fighting the bastards. That would be preferable to his current situation.

His fingers itched for his crossbow though he wasn't sure if he wanted to use it on the undead or on Aaron. At present the walkers were docile, ambling through the streets without purpose – the Alexandrians had wisely kept light and noise to a minimum. Aaron on the other hand was being far more irritating.

"Let me get this straight, you kissed and you could touch him but you can't anymore?"

"That's pretty much it," Beth acknowledged. She still wasn't giving him much eye contacting, preferring to speak directly to Aaron, even if it was through gritted teeth.

Not that Daryl could blame her, he'd actively avoided looking at her himself. Every time he did, all he saw were her soft, pink lips and had to fight every instinct that was telling him to gather her up in his arms, anarchy be damned. Only he couldn't.

Fate had given him a cruel taste of what could have been if he'd been braver and she'd been alive.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Aaron demanded in exasperation.

"Because it wasn't your business?" Daryl mumbled under his breath.

"Him I understand!" Aaron gestured in Daryl's direction before rounding on Beth. "He's a barely functioning human and emotions are hard for him but what's your excuse?"

"Thanks," Daryl said dryly while Beth apologised.

Aaron scratched his chin and fought a cheesy grin while trying to come across as stern. Daryl wrinkled his nose in the direction of his friend. He was playing it cool but Daryl wasn't fooled. His joy was grating. And when that wore off, Daryl was pretty sure smugness would follow closely behind.

"See what I meant by 'it's private'?" Daryl grumbled.

Aaron dismissed his comment with a wave of his hand. "I'm as invested in this as you are."

Daryl doubted it but his enthusiasm evoked a grin from Beth and that in turn made Daryl smile ruefully.

"But it could probably wait until tomorrow?" Beth suggested gently. "When the walkers have been dealt with."

Aaron nodded and Daryl exhaled in relief. He didn't really want his friend niggling at him for details on his first kiss with Beth. His only kiss with Beth.

"You're right. But fair warning. I'm going to want every single detail."

"If that's really what you want," Beth agreed, amicably. "Do you mind if I talk to Daryl in private for a moment?"

Daryl's head jerked up in alarm. Alone with Beth? He wasn't ready for that. What if she wanted privacy to tell him he was a terrible kisser?

Aaron barely hid his smirk, and Daryl barely resisted hurling a pillow at the other man, before ducking out of the room.

As soon as they were alone, Beth blew out a gusty sigh and flopped back on the bed. Daryl's flight response was triggered but he ignored it, struck by how small she looked in the middle of the queen bed.

"You alright?"

She smoothed her hair down with both hands and kept her eyes fixed on the roof. "We can't act like silly teenagers," she announced upwards.

Daryl didn't rightly know how to respond to that. On principle he agreed but something about Beth exasperated his awkwardness and acutely reminded him that he was woefully out of his depth with girls. Specifically this girl.

In response to his silence, she leveraged herself on to her elbows and regarded him seriously. If she was as uncomfortable as he was then she hid it well.

"I kissed you. We kissed." She announced this to him and the room at large.

"Yes," Daryl finally acknowledged and contemplated hurling himself out the window.

Beth's studied him for a moment before she redirected her attention to the hands in her lap where her fingers curled around each other.

"I'm sorry?" she abruptly offered, startling him for the second time this evening.

"For what?" he blurted out in confusion.

She blushed and shifted on the bed. "For accosting you. I didn't ask your permission or anything."

Had he slipped into the twilight zone? Ask permission indeed! Permission for what? He then realised, asshole that he was, that he'd shut down so completely that he'd somehow given Beth the idea that her kisses weren't welcome.

He wanted to tell her that he'd already kissed her a thousand time in his imagination.

Instead he said, "Don't. Don't apologise."

His jaw was tense but he forced himself to meet her eyes. She was still hesitant and he realised he needed to summon his courage and say more.

"I – you didn't need to. Ask permission, that is."

Well, this was going terribly. At least he still had the 'throw himself out the window' plan. It was increasingly appealing.

"So you didn't mind?"

"No," he assured her. "Emotions were running high and you'd just killed that girl. Adrenaline and all."

He should have left it at 'no.' He watched Beth close up as he spoke. Instead of admitting how much he'd wanted that kiss, he was making _excuses_ for her?

"Of course. Adrenaline." Beth said. "It was a pretty stressful situation." Her voice was controlled. Flat.

 _Fix this!_ His body screamed at him.

"Let's just put it behind us," he suggested instead. His heart stuttered in his chest, in sheer disbelief at the moronic words coming out of his mouth.

Beth nodded. Was she blinking more than was normal?

"After we pest control Alexandria, we can talk about telling Maggie?"

"Sure," Beth stated in a clipped tone. He opened his mouth to say more but she was gone. Not even a dent in the bed covers left behind.

"Fuck!" Daryl swore quietly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

…

Beth considered that maybe she was being childish taking advantage of her ability to be somewhere else with nothing but a thought but she wanted a second to herself. She scrubbed angrily at her eyes with the back of hand. She needed to erase any evidence of tears before Daryl made his way downstairs.

She'd been so stupid. At least he'd given her a graceful escape route. Put it all on adrenaline and no one's to blame.

Of course he didn't want to kiss her. She'd read way too much into all those gestures of kindness, all those moments spent together. He cared about her but in the same way he cared about Rick and Carol and Maggie. She was part of his family and that was all there was to it.

If he'd been attracted to her the same way she was attracted to him, then this had been the perfect opportunity to admit it. After all she had just thrown herself into his arms and kissed him.

Beth wondered whether he suspected how much she wanted to do it? Whether he would guess that even if they'd been alone in his attic room and their fingers had locked, that she would have kissed him then too? If he did know the truth then he was showing her a kindness by pretending to chalk it all up to adrenaline. He was protecting her pride and dignity.

Beth groaned as tears threatened to spill again. She hastily wiped them away. Not quickly enough because Eric saw the gesture as he approached.

"Uh oh," he noted gently.

Something about his kind tone and knowing eyes, made Beth well up worse than before. Tears tickled down her cheek and her shoulders heaved.

"Let me guess, he messed up?"

Beth choked on a laugh. "Aaron already told you?"

"He practically told me telepathically as soon as he found out," Eric confessed.

"Figures." Beth dragged her thumb along to catch any errant tears.

"Darling, I would hug you if I could."

"I know. It's ok," Beth reassured Eric even as she cried.

"And I'm sure Daryl handled it in typical Daryl fashion," Eric guessed, hands hovering sympathetically over her shoulders.

A sob escaped her throat. "He was actually very nice about it."

Eric tilted his head in sceptically. "What do you mean he was 'nice' about it?"

Beth shrugged. "Gave me an easy out and didn't make fun of me."

Eric's eyes lifted. "Why would he have done any of those things?"

The question struck pain right through her chest and stomach. Why? "I'm not very experienced and I'm young and maybe I'm too skinny?" Her voice was rising as she spoke and she struggled to return it to a level volume. The rest of the house might not hear her but _he_ would.

"That idiot," Eric complained, slapping a palm to his forehead.

Beth stared at him through watery eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Beth, you know I don't like to get involved-"

It was Beth's turn to consider him dubiously. "Really?"

"-but in light of Daryl's monumental stupidity, I feel obliged to tell you that he cares about you deeply."

"I know that," Beth replied pathetically. "He cares about the people he wants to protect."

Eric's stare was withering and sensitive in equal measure. "I can promise you that he doesn't care about, say me, the way he cares about you. Or anybody else the way he cares about you. Are you understanding me?"

Beth wasn't sure but there was a hope unfurling in her breast that was comprehending Eric's words faster than she was.

"I don't want to put words in his mouth, though lord knows he needs them, but I wouldn't take everything he says as gospel," Eric suggested slowly.

Their conversation paused as Daryl trooped down the stairs. His jaw was tense and his eyes passed and locked on her, before he turned to Glenn. "Do we have a plan?"

The weight of his gaze was heavy on her skin and lent credence to Eric's words.

"Can I be completely candid?" Eric asked as both of them watched Daryl and Glenn speak into the radio.

"Aren't you always?"

"I would say that Daryl got the one thing he wanted more in the world earlier this night. Something that he didn't think he'd ever get or even have the right to. So my guess is he's probably still processing. And that's putting it mildly."

Beth wanted to believe what he was saying but wasn't sure she did.

"Just don't let him ruin this just yet. Be patient. Give him another chance?"

Beth tracked him as he reached for his crossbow and his forehead creased into lines of determination. As he did what was needed without thought or hesitation. Knew that he would lay his life down to save anyone in this room.

"Another chance," Beth agreed, even as she worried that his words had cut her too deeply for that.

 **AN: hi all, this was supposed to be a slightly humorous chapter because obviously the reader knows why Daryl and Beth are being weird. Also I actually intended for them to both handle this well and maturely but Dixon hijacked the conversation from me and I realised he's not ready yet. Getting there but not yet. I know the show doesn't show us that much of Eric and Aaron as a couple but I'm trying to write them as this good example of a healthy, communicative relationship. Keeps me sane knowing they're in there, being normal and advising these two idiots.**


	15. Chapter 15

Daryl was tinkering with the bike in Aaron's garage when the man popped his head around the door and greeted him.

"Anything wrong with it?" Aaron asked curiously, crossing his arms and leaning against the car.

Daryl shook his head without taking his eyes off the engine. "Just tinkering."

He didn't mean to be curt but he honestly wanted a few minutes alone. If he'd known Aaron was home, he'd have picked hunting over mechanics. His healing rib had prevented him from getting about as much as he'd like. He'd been reduced to guard duty and teaching wilderness survival theory to haunted Alexandrians.

Aaron's eyes swept the garage. "Where's your shadow?"

Daryl winced and flexed his fingers. They were covered in grease and the familiar workings of the bike had almost brought him peace. Curse Aaron's astuteness.

"Somewhere else," Daryl offered unhelpfully.

"Huh," Aaron said. Daryl waited for the interrogation to begin. "Want a beer?" Aaron asked instead.

"Yep," Daryl bit out.

With a crooked grin, Aaron drifted back into the house and returned with the beverage. Daryl accepted it but placed it to the side unopened.

Aaron grasped his shoulder gently. "Stay as long as you need," he said and then unexpectedly left him to his solitude again.

Daryl was relieved. He needed this time to get his head straight. Beth has been acting… passive aggressive. He wasn't sure if that was the right way of describing it.

At first he had assumed that she had genuinely accepted his (idiotic) words at face value and everything was fine. Their focus had been absorbed by clearing out Alexandria, which had taken a few days. The entire time Beth had been by his side, watching his back and saving his life not once but twice with her extra set of eyes and ability to go places he couldn't safely. When Rick had declared Alexandria safe and the walls patched to temporary satisfaction, she had shot Daryl a smile so blinding that he'd felt his insides melt. It seemed like they were back on solid ground but while Daryl may not know much about women, he knew Beth. And she was behaving weirdly.

For one thing, if they spent more than five minutes together, she would find numerous ways to emphasise how good friends they were. This was strange in of itself but then it had just gotten more bizarre.

The first time it really clicked was when he'd been showering and Beth had stolen his clothes from inside the bathroom. Whatever was going through her head right now had obviously inspired her enough to master basic physical actions. Daryl had found himself having to make a very awkward dash through the house in nothing but a towel.

"What the hell, Beth?" he demanded when he'd discovered her smug in his attic bedroom.

"What?" Beth had thrown back, hands in the air. "Dude, friends prank each other."

"Didn't know we were living in a damn frat house," Daryl had growled back, unsettled by the smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and the fact he was next to naked.

It set a theme for the next week.

Looking back, that was where he should have known that despite her assurances that everything was fine between them, she was punishing him for his thoughtless words. And in all honesty, he wasn't sure Beth even knew herself. The actions were petty and spiteful, two things Beth most certainly wasn't. She was trying too hard to be his 'pal.' She was trying to joke with him, only neither of them were laughing nor found it very funny.

If he tried to talk to her about anything serious, like practicing touching things or even broaching talking to Maggie, she came up with a poor excuse and vanished.

It was all going horribly and it had come to a boiling point at lunch time.

He'd been on guard duty and Beth had been hanging off the side of the wall, lost in thought. It was the closest thing to an authentic interaction they'd had in days. They didn't share a word but the silence was comfortable and content. Daryl had foolishly hoped that the nonsense was behind them.

Then Sasha came to swap shifts with him. In her hand she brought a sandwich and a small bottle of water.

"Figured you'd be hungry," she had explained and passed him the food.

"You were right." Daryl already had half the sandwich stuffed into his mouth before he spoke.

Sasha had rolled her eyes. "Can't take you anywhere can I, Dixon?"

"Nowhere fancy," Daryl had agreed. They had bumped fists in a wordless comradery and he'd collected his things and climbed down the ladder.

Beth had trailed along in his wake, a fact he took for granted until she spoke.

"If you're interested in Sasha, I could give you advice on how to approach her."

Daryl spat out the mouthful of water he'd just taken and spun to face Beth. "What the fuck?" he demanded, momentarily forgetting that he was shouting at thin air to anyone who was passing by. His eyes roamed over her face to gauge what the hell she was thinking. She was smiling but it was fragile and brittle, her eyes darting anywhere but at his face.

Worst, she wasn't even messing with him which was the final straw for him. His frustration ratcheted up and he wanted to make her feel even a tenth as shitty as she'd been making him feel for the last seven days.

"I don't need your help," he fired back; knowing exactly what he was doing. Knowing that by phrasing it that way he was making it sound like he was interested. But he was sick to death of this buddy duo act. It was more or less his fault that this was the state of things but his anger was illogical and it wanted to lash out at the closest target.

Her expression was an icy wind across his rage, extinguishing it before it had even taken hold. Her antics had been irritating sure but never malicious and his words had torn through her like a knife. Daryl immediately wanted to take them back and explain that yes Sasha was a beautiful woman but they were just friends. Actually just friends. Not whatever mutated relationship had developed between himself and Beth since she'd kissed him.

She'd disappeared before he could though and he'd wandered dejectedly into Aaron's garage and hoped that neither him nor Eric would be home to berate him for his foolishness.

He rubbed at his temples and wished he wasn't such a stupid asshole. Why didn't he just tell Beth that there was only one woman he had any interest in kissing and he'd thought about kissing her a hundred time since?

It was dark when he trailed home. He ate dinner with Rick and Carl, contributing very little to the conversation before they'd outright asked him what had put him in a mood.

He'd muttered an answer about the 'stupid bike' to end that line of questioning but he'd made a quick exit to his room. Daryl had thrown himself onto the bed, lying there in the dark even though he wasn't tired and couldn't see himself sleeping for hours yet. Movement out of the corner of his eye startled him and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he realised there was a person there. His heart beat didn't really steady much when he realised it was Beth.

"I'm sorry," Beth said without preamble. That peculiar glow that seemed to emanate from inside didn't do much to illuminate her face but from her posture he could guess that she was embarrassed.

Part of him wanted to scold her for making his life so difficult. The other part of him - the fairer part of him that acknowledged his fault and that he'd rather have her making his life difficult than not in it at all - won out.

"It's ok," he dismissed with a sigh.

"It's not," Beth disagreed creeping closer. "I've not been myself for a few days."

Daryl's heart almost spilled out of his chest when she approached and took a delicate seat on the bed. This was the closest she'd been to him in days.

She was watching him very intently. "I've been a bit mixed up lately. I'm sure you understand why."

Was she leaning closer? Daryl had to swallow twice before he could speak. "Clarify it for me," he suggested.

Beth rolled her eyes but her lips tugged into a faint smile. "You really going to make me say it out loud?"

"I think I've earned it." His voice was hoarse as he tried to not just stare at her lips. She was so near now.

"I know I've got to tell Maggie now and I was hoping I could distract you and prolong it."

It wasn't the answer he expected. It wasn't the answer he _wanted_. He was tempted to ignore it and inch closer to her. But it was his Beth sitting there. Not the angry, sharp version he'd been dealing with. And this Beth was vulnerable and afraid about how her sister would react to the news that she was back.

He propped himself back up on his elbows. "Beth, you don't have to worry. Once we convince her she's going to be insanely happy to have you back."

"You think?"

Daryl groaned. "I was and I find you no end of pain in the ass." The insult lacked bite and it coaxed a laugh out of her. The intensity of his pleasure at having caused her amusement was frightening. How did this one woman have such an impact on his emotions?

"Don't sugar coat it at all!"

"Besides, you'll have Aaron, Eric and me there to help."

"I'm glad you'll be there," she told him shyly, glancing up at him from behind those big blue eyes.

Yeah, he was screwed. The relief of talking to her like everything was normal swept through him, taking the ever building tension out of his shoulders. Like a retreating adrenaline rush, it left exhaustion in its wake.

"Now that's settled, will you stop stealing my clothes?" he requested, slumping back against the bed.

"I make no promises," she teased and to his utter shock eased into a lying position next to him. She was facing him but not touching him. His brain supplied all the information that was missing. The sound of her pulse, the smell of her hair. He couldn't tell if she was breathing, he knew he wasn't.

The darkness seemed to deepen until he could barely make her out but he could feel her presence at his side.

"So you forgive me?" it was whispered and small.

"Ain't nothing to forgive."

At first there was only a cool wind but a spark of electricity followed before her fingers laced through his. She had curled her hand around his and he could feel it.

"I'm getting good at this," she murmured sleepily.

Daryl couldn't answer, couldn't do much of anything but focus on the fact that Beth was holding his hand again as they lay together in his bed.

…

Beth's eyes flicked open and blinked groggily. She didn't sleep much these days so it was almost disorientating when she did.

There was a tickling sensation at the back of her neck. She twisted to look over her shoulder. Daryl was still asleep, a mere inch away from her. It was his breath upon her skin.

At some point during the night she must have released his hand and turned. Glancing down she realised she was lying on Daryl's arm. As if in slumber he'd reached out to her but her transparent state had returned. The fact he hadn't woken in discomfort confirmed that as far as his body was concerned, she really wasn't there.

She squeezed her eyes shut and for a beat tried to pretend his arm was lazily thrown across her hip.

After the last week, she was content to just lie there in silence. Beth had promised Eric she would try and be patient with Daryl's idiosyncrasies. But she hadn't quite managed it and turnabout had been fair play. It was Daryl in the end who was forced to be patient with her.

Her barely supressed rage and rattled emotions had gotten the better of her more than once. It hadn't brought her the release she thought it would, although watching Daryl scramble around in nothing but a towel has been more enjoyable that she would ever admit to him, and in fact just exacerbated the itch.

She kept waiting for him to call her on her shit but aside from a twitching jaw there had been no real reaction. The incident with Sasha had been a wakeup call. That she couldn't be petty with no consequences because in reality people were going to get hurt. Specifically her.

It had shamed her and forced her to reconsider. She was struck with the memory of a conversation she'd once shared with her father about his alcoholism. She had been very young and she hadn't understood the nuances of addiction but her father had tried to explain in simple terms.

What young Beth couldn't quite understand was why he'd been so mean to the people he loved? Surely that love remained consistent even while he was drunk. Hershel had chuckled rather ruefully.

" _It comes down to trust. The thing is Bethy, trust swings both way. It can be a blessing and a curse. I trusted that they loved me enough to forgive me no matter what I did."_

" _Did they?"_

" _I was lucky. The real challenge is not taking that trust, that love, for granted. It is a gift and you should treat it at such."_

Beth already knew she trusted Daryl with her life, she'd know that way back in the prison. But at some point she had decided he could be trusted with her emotions. Maybe she even trusted him with her heart if he wanted that responsibility. That was less certain.

But to forgive her? To protect her? To be kind to her? Yes, Daryl Dixon could be trusted ten times over.

And she'd been taking advantage of that fact. So she'd done the right thing and made her peace with him. He might never untangle his fear and impulses enough to be everything she wanted of him but if all she could have was his friendship then she'd take that and be grateful. And if Eric was right then she might possibly have it all.

For now she was satisfied having this moment with him. His defences went down while he slept, Beth thought as she examined him with affectionate eyes. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him sleep or even the first time they'd been this close. They'd spent several fraught hours jammed in the trunk of a car together after all.

The camp bed was small enough that if she was solid, they'd be touching in some capacity. The thought of contact swelled like a compulsion inside her. Unable to resist, Beth ghosted her fingertips along the slope of his cheekbone. He shivered under her touch and her eyes met his suddenly open ones. Whereas hers were the blue of the ocean, his were faded ice.

"At least you don't hog the bed," he grumbled into the pillow, watching her with hooded eyes.

She swatted at him ineffectually. He was still in his clothes from the day before, his feet jammed into boots. He stretched, careful not to jostle her.

"I'm too old for this piece of shit."

"Why don't you move into a house with a proper bed?" she suggested lightly. _Something we could both sleep in and it wouldn't be so obvious I am dead._

Daryl gave a one shouldered shrug. "I wanted to be close to Rick in case he needed me."

"That was before we knew this community is safe."

Daryl wrinkled his nose at her choice of words, clearly remembering the recent attack, the freshly dug graves. The events were tragic but had rattled Deanna and vindicated Rick. All the residents were now being taught self-defence.

"The threat is outside the walls," Beth clarified.

"Only if no one breathes too heavy on them."

"We'll strengthen them up. You're grumpy in the morning," Beth observed, trying to sound disgruntled but far too happy to be having this conversation to do it justice.

"Some creep was watching me sleep." His fingers drifted closer as if to tuck hair behind her ear.

"What do you have planned today?" Beth asked, unwilling to let this moment end but perfectly aware that Daryl had things he needed to do.

"I got roped into teaching a lesson but other than that, I'm all yours."

This statement left an awkward silence in its wake. Daryl cleared his throat uncomfortably, realising what he'd said and how it sounded. Beth had quite enjoyed hearing it but Eric's words floated through her mind. Patience.

Tempting as it was to push Daryl on this point, she didn't want to spook him just yet.

"I was thinking that we could go see Maggie this afternoon?"

…

Beth had déjà vu. It wasn't so long ago that she had been hesitantly standing on Aaron's porch before revealing her existence to him. That had gone well but there was no guarantee it would today. Her loss was more personal for Maggie. Eric and Aaron hadn't even met her while alive. Maggie had seen her take her first steps, her first day at school, held her dead body.

Her support system had grown. Daryl of course was there, fingers curled tight around his crossbow the only indication that he was nervous about this meeting too. Just behind him were Eric and Aaron who appeared far more comfortable. Eric had even brought pie. As if Maggie was a new neighbour and not the living sister of their ghost friend.

Maggie's eyebrows lifted upon seeing the odd assortment of people on her doorstep. Daryl was hardly known for social calls.

"We need to talk," Daryl began and Beth wished she'd asked Aaron to do the talking. Daryl made it sound incredibly ominous. Beth coughed loudly and Daryl forced an uneasy smile on his face which likely did more to unsettle Maggie than his words.

Still, her big sister was hard to rattle. She invited them into the house she shared with Glenn, who was on the couch, carefully scribbling onto a piece of paper.

"I can go," Glenn offered, clocking the expression on Daryl's face who turned to Beth to see what she wanted. She shook her head. Glenn needed to know as well as Maggie.

Her chest was too tight to breath. She was standing on the edge of something she couldn't take back. Once Maggie knew, was there any reason they couldn't, or shouldn't, tell Rick and Michonne and Carol? Probably not.

Eric and Aaron took seats and made pleasant conversation while they waited for Daryl to broach the topic they'd come here to discuss. Glenn and Maggie pretended to not find any of this strange, while clearly knowing their visitors hadn't come to chat about the new vegetable garden.

"I need to tell you something," he finally blurted out, cutting off Eric mid-pie recipe. Far from being offended at the interruption, Eric nodded encouragingly.

"About what?" Maggie was a picture of calm. Her lessons with Deanna had been improving her leadership skills and her experience with Daryl informed how she interacted with the tetchy hunter.

Daryl locked eyes with Beth again, as if drawing strength from her.

"About Beth."


	16. Chapter 16

Each of Maggie's breaths felt like fire, pulled in hot and forced into her too tight lungs. All she could do was blink at the three men in her living room.

She couldn't trust her instincts, which were telling her to shout, to throw all of them out in a fit of rage. Heat was pooling in her cheeks as she forced herself to take another uncomfortable breath and process what they had told her.

" _What about Beth?"_

" _She's still here. She's here with us."_

Maggie knew this wasn't true. After all, she'd remembered how her heart had splintered apart in her chest as she'd sobbed over her body. Images of her baby sister sprawled on the ground looking as small and fragile as she ever had. Maggie remembered the acute pain of failing her. Failing her father.

And now Daryl was sitting there trying to tell her she wasn't gone? It woke something furious inside of her, something that now wanted blood.

Glenn's firm hand on her shoulder kept that thing in place for the time being. Screeching at Daryl would be no good to anyone.

There was context to this that she wasn't seeing. Daryl was the last person who would ever try to make light of what had happened to Beth. Maggie just couldn't see him trying to make some sick story up just to hurt her.

Maggie still didn't know what had happened between him and Beth but he'd worn his grief over losing her like a piece of armour – keeping everything in and everyone out.

Daryl had always been more sensitive than he'd let on and it had taken Maggie almost a year of living with him to realise his walls were for protection. Over time, he'd started to relinquish those barriers, _his_ protection, in favour of protecting his adopted family. This meant that, no matter how well he tried to hide it, death hit him hard.

But Maggie hadn't seen him quite so broken as when he'd walked down the steps with Beth held gently in his arms.

No, Maggie didn't _know_ what had happened between him and Beth. But she could guess.

If anyone wanted Beth back as much as she did, it was the man sitting across from her whose gaze stubbornly refused to meet hers, instead locked on a mysterious spot on the wall.

"I don't understand." It was all she couldn't think to say and it was true.

Daryl exhaled noisily, finally jerking his attention back to Maggie. There was panic there and Maggie got the sense that if Eric and Aaron weren't there, he might have bolted. She wasn't at all sure why else they had come. They didn't even know Beth though they had grown close with Daryl.

"It happened a while back now. She just started appearing – annoying me really." A small smiled crossed his face and his head tilted as if he was listening to something that wasn't there.

"S'true," he mumbled as if someone had challenged him. Maggie glanced around the room, almost expecting Beth to tumble out from behind the curtains the way he was talking.

"Are you sure you aren't just… seeing things?" Glenn asked with the subtlety of a semitrailer.

"You asking if I'm going crazy?"

"No, no, no," Glenn hastened to reassure. "Unless, y'know, you are."

Daryl snorted while Aaron raised a pointed eyebrow in Glenn's direction. It wasn't Glenn's style to mess around. He was honest to a fault. Half the reason Maggie had fallen in love with him. You could trust an honest man and they were in short enough supply before the apocalypse and even rarer now. Daryl was candid too. Maybe not with his words but his eyes always said more than he did. Once you could read them, you knew exactly where the hunter stood on any topic.

"It's a fair enough question and I wondered the same thing too but she knew things. She could tell me things that I couldn't have made up with my own head."

"That's why you asked about the time she stole," Maggie breathed slowly. Hope was beginning to claw its way upwards and she forced it down with all her might. Hope was a powerful emotion and could inspire good. But it could also hurt. Maggie had been hurt too much lately so she erred on the side of caution.

"Yeah," Daryl chuckled. "Regular Thelma and Louise you two."

"How do we know she hadn't already told you that story when she was alive?" Glenn pressed. It didn't sound like an accusation but it was deliberate.

"Glenn!" Eric scolded.

"What!" Glenn threw back. "I'm not saying he's crazy but what he's saying sounds nuts. I just want to go through this sensibly."

He glanced down at her and she caught the exact moment when he remembered they were talking about the ghost of her dead sister and how totally surreal that was. For all his words about Daryl's questionable sanity, Maggie knew he'd be thrilled beyond words if Beth could walk back through that door. If he was pushing it was only because he wanted it to be true.

"As sensibly as possible," he amended.

"I don't mind," Daryl said quietly. "I want you to believe me, not just say you believe me."

The fragility written across his face made Maggie's heart ache. To her it was painfully obvious what Beth had meant to him.

Aaron touched Daryl's shoulder gently. "Maybe you should try how you convinced Eric and me?"

"Can you see her too?" Glenn asked, his fingers were digging into Maggie slightly harder.

Aaron's eyes flicked to the same wall Daryl had been staring at and grinned. "Yeah. Now we can."

Maggie stared in the same direction hard enough that her eyes might have melted the plaster. It was just a wall to her. But there was a chance her sister was there. Tears pricked up and threatened to spill.

Her sister.

Maggie desperately wanted a sister right now because she had some news that was still fresh enough that only she and Glenn knew it. And it was the kind of thing she would have told to Beth first.

"How did you convince them?" Maggie finally rasped.

"Go into the kitchen and write something on a piece of paper. She'll see it and tell me."

"Sounds simple."

Daryl finally locked eyes with her. "It is."

Maggie pushed to her feet, ignoring the way her hands trembled.

"Shall I come?" Glenn was concerned.

Maggie shook her head. She wanted to do this alone. Just her and Beth one more time.

She walked to the kitchen and contemplated the options. Either Daryl was completely unstable or this was true. She knew which one she was praying for. Even if Daryl hadn't seen her and had just gone mad, it had chased away the haunted look he'd had for so long. Maybe there was something to be said for losing your mind.

She found paper and a pen and stared at the blankness.

Beth's presence bore down on her, summoned by Maggie's memories and love possibly. Or maybe, just maybe she was there with her.

Steeling herself, Maggie dragged the pen across the paper to form two words.

 _I'm pregnant_. A tear escaped and spilled down her cheek before Maggie dashed it away with her palm.

"If you're really here, Beth, then I need you. I need you." Maggie whispered her heartfelt plea to the empty room.

"I'm so happy for you!"

Maggie started at the familiar voice and two arms wound around her stomach. Thin and delicate and unmistakably Beth's. Maggie traced stunned fingers down the faded scar of her inner wrist, the skin vibrating under her touch.

There was a brief squeeze and the arms were gone. Maggie whirled, terrified that she'd conjured that image with the strength of her desire to see Beth again.

Beth was beaming at her, standing there as if she'd never left. Maggie pressed her hand to her mouth and braced herself on the bench.

"I would hug you but it's hard to touch things for too long," Beth explained shakily.

"You're really here?"

"I'm here," Beth assured.

Maggie suddenly shoved at Beth's shoulder. Beth jerked backwards but Maggie made no contact. "You've been back for ages and you're only just telling me now!" Maggie's voice was still low but the anger was obvious.

Beth rubbed at her shoulder though she'd clearly experienced no pain. "I didn't know how long I would be here."

"What does that mean?" Maggie demanded, suddenly frightened again.

"It's a long story and I'll explain it to you. I'll tell you everything. But maybe we should go back in and tell your doubting husband first."

Maggie nodded wordlessly.

…

Beth was a ball of sunshine when she walked back in and judging from Maggie's tears, she could see her sister again without him having to say a word.

"She's pregnant," Beth announced to the room joyously.

Aaron and Eric jumped to their feet. "Congratulations!"

Glenn jumped. "How did you know?"

Daryl nudged his chin in Beth's direction. "Beth told us."

Glenn twisted to face his wife but judging from the way his mouth dropped open, he could see the glowing blonde by her side. The sisters weren't touching but they stood so close together they were almost one.

After they outlined everything that happened and what they understood of Beth's condition; Daryl, Eric and Aaron took their leave. Beth needed some alone time to catch up with Maggie.

Daryl was distracted during his evening meal with Rick and Michonne. Carl had disappeared as he was increasingly likely to do these days. His crush with Enid was consuming more and more of his time. Though it was one of the few things that softened Rick's attitude to Alexandria. It had got his son acting like a normal teenage boy.

Rick and Michonne were too absorbed in each other to really notice his distance. They were discussing resurrecting the defences of the town. The one silver lining of the attack was Rick's sudden and passionate adoption of it as his own.

There was a map spread in front of them and as they talked, their shoulders kept knocking, their fingers brushing. Daryl felt slightly like the third wheel but was grateful for the diversion. Otherwise, either one of them was perceptive enough to notice that his mind was elsewhere. He didn't really want to try and explain to them what had his attention.

Beth had been with Maggie and Glenn for hours now and he was almost certain Beth would have told her sister about the single kiss they'd shared. The Greene sisters were close and he couldn't really resent Beth for sharing it. It wasn't his secret to guard fiercely. He was just dreading the knowing look that Maggie would have next time she saw him. God, he'd have to deal with worse if Glenn was included in the confession.

Unable to help himself, he tortured himself by wondering how Beth would frame it. Would she make it sound like a one-off, regretted mistake? Or as something that had resonated down to her bones?

He was absolutely sure that she would tell Maggie what an idiot he'd been afterwards. He'd brought that on himself really. Aaron and Eric had both radiated judgement when Beth had explained the rules of her touching things. It was pretty obvious whose side they'd taken in the whole aftermath.

A smaller part of him noticed her absence. As much as he was glad she had been reunited with her sister - it had made her happy and Daryl would move heaven and hell to make Beth smile – he knew that she'd have less time for him.

An even smaller, darker part of his brain taunted him with the fact that he would no longer be needed to hold hands with. She loved Maggie; that connection was strong enough to trump the undefined 'something' between her and Daryl.

Reaching for strength that he wouldn't have had before her return, Daryl banished that nagging voice that told him he was useless. Or at least he turned down the volume. It sounded a lot like his father right before he took a belt to his back and it was hard to tune out completely. It had a habit of rearing its ugly head at the worst possible times. Usually when Daryl was happy. When everything was going to shit, that insidious voice was content. But when things were good, as if it could sense his heart healing, its voice being forgotten, it whispered poison in his ear.

The one thing it didn't count for, the one thing his father had never predicted, was Beth Greene. She had managed to press a hand to Maggie's stomach and she had lit up from the inside like the sun. In that moment, Daryl would have traded all their potential kisses, all their joined hands, fuck, even his life, for her to be happy.

It was his new mission. Whatever it took and whatever she needed to be able to hold that baby when it came into the world, he'd give it to her. Even if it meant that she'd spend more time with Maggie than him, he was willing to give it to.

He made his excuses and Rick and Michonne were too busy pretending not to notice the way they gravitated towards each other that he was able to escape without an interrogation. Now that her reservations in telling Maggie had been overcome, Beth was considering telling everyone but that wasn't tonight's problem.

Daryl tugged off his shirt and took down his crossbow to clean. He grunted in dissatisfaction. He hadn't even used it since its last cleaning. They'd been so busy fixing up after the crazies and minding his healing rib that he'd had no time for hunting. He resolved to go out soon. Not only would meat be well received, he always found that disappearing into nature for a few hours helped to clear out the cobwebs in his head.

He was just putting the weapon back where it belong when the hairs on his neck stood on end. He didn't need to turn to know that Beth was in his room. His spine straightened – it was too late to do anything about his back. She'd seen it before but it was still hard for him. He could never hide the damage his childhood had wrecked on him. It was etched into his skin.

"Thought you'd be with Maggie for a while longer," he murmured, carefully laying the crossbow on its designated shelf.

"She was tired so I thought I'd come see you."

He grunted in response and finally turned. She was still glowing but the slump of her shoulders betrayed her exhaustion.

"How did it go?"

Beth danced on her toes, practically vibrating with joy. "I… I can't describe it. She's going to have a baby!"

"Yeah. Sure is something." It sounded weak to his own ears but luckily she was too buzzed to notice. Beth wasn't the only one having trouble with words. It wasn't that he wasn't thrilled about the baby himself, god knows lil'asskicker was one of the best things in his life, but he found Beth so consuming when she was like this that it became hard to separate coherent thoughts out from his desire for her.

"I get to see that," she gushed. "I'm going to be an aunt. What?"

The question startled him. He hadn't realised he was staring at her. He cleared his throat, "just pleased to hear is all."

She accepted this explanation but regarded him with slight bemusement. "I should really thank you."

His eyebrows drew together. "Thank me for what?"

Beth rolled her eyes. "For reuniting us."

Daryl scoffed and waved off the thanks. "Didn't do nothing. Just put you both in a room."

Beth tilted her head. "You did more than that and you know it Daryl Dixon. Don't force me to make you uncomfortable and list all the kind things you did for me."

"Jesus, please don't!" he said even while he wished she would.

She fixed him with a steely glint. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have stopped being an idiot and talked to Maggie."

"So you're thanking me for calling you on your bullshit?" His voice was husky, he was all too aware of how perfect she was, how undressed he was.

"Something like that." Her smile turned wicked.

"You're welcome then." His tone was facetious.

"Seriously though… thank you."

Her sincerity made him uncomfortable and could only manage a nod in reply.

"She wants to tell Rick and the others soon."

"Makes sense," Daryl said mildly. "If they can all see you, the better."

"It would be nice. It's just-" she trailed off. The corners of her mouth dropped slightly.

"It's just what?" Daryl pressed, suddenly concerned.

Beth shrugged her shoulders. "It's silly."

"Beth Greene, don't force me to make you tell me," he said, imitating her from just before.

It earned him a shy smile. "I don't know, I just liked spending time with you. Just you."

Every inch of Daryl's skin prickled at her words. It took him two tries to speak. "We can still spend time together."

Beth peered up at him with those shocking blue eyes from behind dark lashes. It made his blood turn hot in his veins.

"It won't be the same."

"Bullshit," he tossed back with more bravado than he felt but it earned him a laugh. Not that it broke the tension any.

"We should touch." The suggestion threw him. He wasn't expecting it any more than her confession that she would miss their almost continuous time together.

"I have more incentive than ever," she added.

He shook his head and reined in his imagination. His ability to form full words gone, Daryl merely held up his hand by way of offering.

Beth ignored the outstretched palm and sidestepped so that she was mere inches away. Her fingers hovered over the scar on his torso, one of the few he owned that wasn't inflicted on him by his father.

"How did you get this one?" she asked, focus on his skin.

His mouth was dry as he answered. "You know how."

"Humour me." She was so close that her whispered request brushed against him.

"Your stupid horse threw me-"

"It wasn't Nelly's fault!"

"-and I landed on one of my arrows."

"You never did ask to borrow my horse," she pointed out.

He wanted to bluster back but he was halted by the press of her fingertips against the small scar. He remembered her bringing him food a couple of times when he'd been laid up with both the puncture wound and the grazing shot to the head. He'd barely noticed her then. Goes to show what an idiot he'd once been. She was impossible to ignore these days.

"I can feel you," she mumbled as if still surprised that she could make contact. Daryl was very still under her touch. If he moved, he wouldn't be able to control himself.

He glanced down at her just as she looked up. "Can you feel me?" she asked.

"Yes." _Yes!_

With no effort at all he could be kissing her. Just the smallest distance to cover and his lips would be on hers.

She pulled her hand back and he withered with disappointment and his own inaction.

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"You don't want to stay with Maggie and Glenn?" he asked and wished he could kick himself. What was he trying to do? Drive her away?

Luckily she shook her head. "I want to stay with you."

And for once Daryl didn't get in his own way. "You can stay any time you want."


	17. Chapter 17

It took Beth a long time to orientate herself and when she did she swore. The white room. Purgatory.

Frantically, she spun in a circle hoping to see Lori or even Merle. There was just empty, clinical white in all directions. Eyes darting from side to side, she tried to think. Why was she here now when she hadn't been there for so long? She'd done nothing to exert herself either. Sure, revealing herself to Maggie had been emotionally exhausting but it hadn't required the kind of energy that usually sent her back here.

Beth swallowed thickly, her vision blurring for a second. She'd just promised Maggie she wasn't going anywhere. Daryl would be sleeping by her side not even aware that she was gone. With the unpredictable passage of time in this place, only minutes might have passed or maybe weeks.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus only on Daryl but her fear churned her thoughts and every time she locked in on him, insidious self-doubt clouded his image in her mind.

Panicked and desperate to get back, Beth shouted, "Merle?"

If anyone could remind her of her connection to Daryl, it was his obnoxious brother. He might even irritate her enough that she disappeared just to escape his snide judgement. Her calls got no response, however.

"Merle!" she tried again, pretending not to hear the hysteria in her voice. Beth never wanted to be stuck here in the first place. But she had too much to lose now.

"You don't have to shout, Blondy! I'm right here."

Merle's cranky tone eased her chest, allowing her to suck in her first breath but her relief dissipated almost immediately when she saw him. He was faded and shuffling. He made his way towards her slowly, turning completely translucent at some points.

"Merle?" For the third time she said his name but the sight of him shocked her and it came out as a whispered question.

For a beat he just stared at her, as if he'd forgotten who she was. Then he barked out a laugh and looked at his hands.

"This keeps happening. Fuckin' annoying, is what it is. Can't even hold a smoke."

"Why?" Beth sidled closer. It was like he was dying right before her eyes which was absurd because Merle Dixon was already dead.

"No idea!" He snapped. "Girl, ain't I told you I don't know what goes on in this place? Not really."

"Are… are you in any pain?"

Merle's eyebrows lifted. The question surprised him. "No actually. Feels not much like anything, like I'm floating."

Beth reached out with a tentative hand and brushed his shoulder. She could make contact but he wasn't solid under her palm. He gave under her touch like jelly. Compact but not hard.

"So do you just have a thing for us Dixons in general?" Merle asked. "Cause I'll give you a go. Won't even tell my brother."

Beth snatched her hand back while Merle leered at her. She glared at him but sensed his heart wasn't in it. He was being Merle on autopilot.

For his part, he rubbed at his shoulder in bemusement. "That almost hurt, Blondy. Seems I'm not the only one who is different."

"I've gotten stronger," Beth admitted before a quick glance at her surroundings checked any urge she might feel to brag. "Though not strong enough to leave this place."

Merle shrugged unconcerned and almost distracted. "Maybe you came to say goodbye?"

"Goodbye to what?"

Merle didn't answer, he had tilted his head back and was staring fixedly at what could be called the sky. His behaviour was strange even by Dixon standards. A sharp pang of pain cut into her head, about the same place she'd been shot.

"Merle!" Beth snapped to summon his attention. "Goodbye to what?"

"How is Daryl?" he asked unexpectedly instead of answering her. "He alright?"

Beth paused, wondering how to treat this shadow of a man. "He's fine."

"You charging by the word, Blondy?" Merle growled, sounding more present for an instant. "Don't be stingy on the details."

Beth held up her hands to pacify him. "Sorry. He's very well liked in the community. He and one of his friends go out and look for people to bring them into the town and safety."

"Just like him. Bleeding heart my little brother." Merle coughed and flickered right in front of her. "Keep going."

Beth realised she had frozen when he'd become nothing but static. She was beginning to suspect that Merle was leaving this limbo plane and he wanted to hear about his brother before he went. She was torn between happiness for Merle and frightened at being left by herself.

She cleared her mouth and kept talking, certain she was repeating things she had already told Merle, but he didn't seem to mind. "He and Rick are still very close. Sometimes I think he's one of the only people Rick trusts. He hurt his rib but it's healing."

"Hurt it how?"

"Fighting," Beth offered cautiously, half expecting Merle to fire up at that but it just amused him.

"Bet Darylina got his dues back. He never did like hurting people but he wouldn't take a fight lying down!"

Beth cracked a smile at the obvious affection in Merle's voice. "Well those people that hurt him are dead now."

"Good," Merle grunted in satisfaction.

"I even took one out myself." It was perverse but she could hear the pride in her own voice at having defended her loved ones

"Look at you, Blondy! Killing people and all. I'm sure Daryl liked you coming to his rescue."

Beth was sure too. Daryl certainly had appreciated not being stabbed in the back by the insane woman with the W on her forehead. She was less certain about the ensuing kiss.

"Why'd you make that face?"

Beth cursed Merle's perception and his brother's obstinate lack of it when it came to her.

"Nothing," Beth informed him primly, not really wanting Merle's opinion on the matter, even if it was probably the last time he'd be in a position to offer it.

"Nothing my ass." His eyes were sharp and focused on her for the first time since he'd had dazedly wandered up to her. "Something happen between you two?"

"We kissed. Once."

Beth was prevented from providing any more context by Merle's uproarious laugh.

"He didn't know what to do with that, I wager," Merle crowed.

"You talk too much, you know that?" Beth griped, folding her arms across her body.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he wheezed, not appearing in the least bit sorry. "I thought it was pretty clear how you felt about him but didn't think he would have the stones to do anything about it!"

Beth didn't bother to clarify it was she that had initiated the kiss. Probably would just set Merle off again, he'd just managed to control his cackling into little giggles.

Merle noted her expression and reached for her arm. Her skin tingled where he held her but otherwise she was unaffected by his grip. "I'm happy for you, I am. He's well due a girlfriend."

"Even a dead one?"

"No one's perfect." Merle grinned wickedly at her.

Beth shrugged. She couldn't argue with that.

"Besides, in case you ain't noticed, half the planet is covered in walking dead people. Hasn't stopped them, why should it stop you-"

"That was almost insightful, Merle."

"-banging my brother?"

"Oh great, you ruined it." Beth closed her eyes in exasperation and possibly to disguise how much she actually wanted to do just that.

"Not everything stays dead, Blondy." He sounded far away now.

Beth opened her eyes and her stomach dipped at how washed-out he was. Merle Dixon was barely there.

"Tell him I'm rooting for him?"

Beth nodded, unable to find words. She'd never had much fondness for Merle but watching him vanish was unspeakably sad. Even though she thought he might be going somewhere better.

"Blondy?"

Beth stepped closer to hear him. He was almost gone. Their gazes locked and Beth could see confusion wash over him.

"You're not really here. You don't belong here."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked, jarred by his eerie statement but he was gone. Pain flooded her body, white hot electricity tearing apart all her nerves and senses. Beth screamed as the world exploded into sharp, yellow light.

It pulled back into focus abruptly and she was somewhere else. There was a man but that was all she could see properly.

It sounded like he said her name but she couldn't be sure. All she could feel was agony.

"It's too soon."

The sight of a long needle made her brain fight past the dense fog of pain. She didn't know who he was or what was in that needle. She struggled but couldn't move enough to get away. The movement made her see stars as the pain bore down on her. A screech of beeps echoed around her, so loud that they rang in her ears.

There was a pinch in her arm, nothing compared to the rawness of the rest of her body and aching head. Her heart beat slowed in sync with the sound of the beeps. Beth still tried to fight, wanting to shove the stranger and his needle away.

Rough fingers curled around her wrists and shoved them down.

"Beth! Stop!"

Beth blinked. From one second to the next, the stranger was gone and Daryl was hovering over her. He was the one who had her pressed into the camp bed. An angry bloom of red was spreading across his face.

"Did I hit you?" she was aghast.

"Yeah," Daryl acknowledged but not seeming the least bit concerned about it.

Beth stilled under his fingers but could feel her trembling. Daryl hadn't eased his hold on her yet. She peered up at him. Something was off about him. There were dark circles under his eyes and his beard was scruffier than usual.

"What's wrong?" she asked thinking that he somehow inexplicably knew about Merle already.

Daryl didn't answer, just stared at her with that inscrutable expression on his face that he threw up whenever his mind was reeling.

He dropped his weight onto his elbows and dipped his head, pressing his lips to hers. Beth inhaled sharply, startled by his actions. He didn't deepen the kiss, leaving it tender and light but it resonated into her body. Her chest expanded and she turned into him. She sent a thankful prayer to god that she was substantial enough for him to kiss her.

It was over far too soon and he withdrew too far from her for Beth to easily reel him back in. She was breathless in its wake but Daryl just looked ragged.

Mind reeling and mouth hot, Beth sat up and inched closer to him in concern. There was a smear of dirt behind his ear and Beth realised he was dirty.

"Daryl, talk to me."

"You were gone a month," he told her hollowly.

Beth rocked back onto her heels. "A month."

His mouth twisted and he nodded jerkily. "A month. I've been half out of my mind with worry."

Beth tentatively traced a finger over his cheekbone. He flinched but didn't try and escape. "It was barely an hour to me."

"Began to feel like you weren't coming back."

Beth took in his dishevelled appearance. It was because of her that he was like this.

"I'll always come back," Beth told him, knowing it might not be a promise she could keep but fully intending too. Hating the broken slump of his shoulders, she eased her arms around his body and clutched him to her.

He was stiff against her but slowly the tension eased from him. She buried her face into his neck and eventually he rested his cheek against her hair. The solid warmth of him lent her strength.

"I was with your brother," she murmured into his skin. "He's moved on now."

His spine straightened upon hearing the news and she could tell he held his breath sharply. "Probably stupid to get upset about someone who is already dead?"

"Not stupid at all," Beth hurried to reassure him. "He loved you a lot."

Daryl snorted, his breath actually ruffling her hair. "He say that?"

"In his way," Beth insisted and squeezed him tight.

Daryl curled his hand around her elbow. "I hope he's at peace."

"I think he is. He just needed to know you were ok before he let go."

Daryl didn't respond to that and Beth didn't try and sneak a glance at his face. She gave him privacy to grieve while she selfishly basked in the thud of his pulse.

Beth lost track of time while they sat there and Daryl clearing his throat broke the spell. "We should tell Maggie you're back."

"You should shower first," Beth suggested, considering subtlety but disregarding it.

His shoulders shook with a chuckle. "Jesus, you really are back."

Beth leaned back so she could finally see his face. "Yes."

Daryl traced a thumb along her jawline in wonder. "Only you can raise my blood pressure like this."

"I'm very annoying," Beth conceded and hoped he wouldn't stop his gentle touches. Each one chased back the fear and pain of her experience in that unknown room. It was burned into her mind and she couldn't stop picturing it.

"Amongst other things," Daryl agreed. He leaned forward and for a wonderful second he thought he was going to kiss her again but he instead softly nudged her forehead with his own. He groaned and got to his feet. "I'll be back in two minutes."

…

Daryl was completely unwilling to relinquish his hold on Beth. While she was able to keep herself corporeal, he wanted to have her within arm's length, if they weren't actually touching. It was still tiring for her to maintain physical form but not nearly as much effort as it once was.

At the moment he had his hands to himself but that was only due to the number of prying eyes. He had pulled up a chair to sit as close to her as he could manage. Maybe he was protecting an illusion that everyone could see through but despite everyone's suspicions on his feelings for Beth, no one knew the exact extent.

Maggie was sitting just as close on the other side while all three of them stared across the table at Rick who was staring at Beth with the weary resignation of someone who was no longer very surprised by what the world had to throw at them. He'd pinch his nose every now and again while listening to first Daryl and Maggie, and then Beth, talk.

For simple logistics, they'd kept the group present to only those who had known Beth when she'd been alive. Rick, Michonne, Carol, Carl and Sasha.

Daryl had seen Beth bite her lower lip when she'd been confronted by just how few of them were left.

Aaron and Eric had offered to come for moral support again but there just simply wasn't room in the house for the additional people. As it was Glenn was practically in the next room, head popped around the corner to keep track of proceedings.

Daryl had been taken back by Rick's almost easy acceptance of Beth. Carol and Michonne had been more cautious but he didn't really hold it against them.

Carl had reached across the table while they'd talked, or more specifically, bombarded Beth with questions, and tried to touch Beth's hand. She'd swatted him away distractedly but Carl paled at the sudden interception. Daryl knew from firsthand experience that her skin was cooler than that of the living but with her new found control, she could easily deflect the curious hand. Daryl's cheek had twinged long after she'd slapped him this morning.

Rick's composure was only cracked when Beth mentioned her exchange with Lori. It might have been Daryl's imagination but he could have sworn he saw Michonne startle at the mention of her name.

Not that he could blame her. She'd never met the other woman but it was disconcerting to think that the deceased wife of your new partner was watching over you.

Carl excused himself not long after that and took his sister out of the room. Beth tracked him with sympathetic eyes but let him go without drawing attention to the way he was gritting his teeth, almost as if he was keeping himself from crying.

Rick had stood when Carl did but like Beth, he remained silent. He returned his attention to Beth and his face softened. "I can't pretend to understand this but I'm pleased to see you Beth."

That moment of tenderness did away with the poise Beth had managed to hold on to while she revealed her existence to them. She clambered ungracefully to her feet, hindered by the press of tables and chairs and threw her arms around Rick's neck. He returned the hug fiercely.

Maggie discreetly touched her stomach and then brushed away a tear. Daryl knew how she felt. One by one, their friends embraced Beth, each of them able to feel her.

Sasha clung to her the tightest and the longest. No one in the room had needed a miracle more than her and that's what Beth was. An actual miracle.

"You really have no idea how any of this is possible?" Carol asked, finally coming to terms with the situation enough to take a seat.

"None," Daryl said but noticed the uneasy way Beth shifted in her seat. "At least we had none, right Beth?"

Her cheeks turned pink. "It's just a theory," she admitted sheepishly. "Something your brother said."

The mention of Merle made his stomach uneasy. He still wasn't sure what to think about the fact his brother had been clinging so long to limbo because of his concern for him. As if she could tell what he was thinking, Beth reached out and took his hand. Hyper aware of everyone's eyes suddenly focused on their joined fingers, Daryl resisted the urge to self-consciously yank his hand backwards.

"Probably stupid then," he half grumbled to break the weighted silence.

Thankfully Rick would never be distracted by potential relationship gossip. "Your brother? As in Merle Dixon?"

"The one and only," Beth said dryly.

"Something he told you at the prison?"

Beth had deliberately skirted around details of his brother's role in the whole affair. He loved his brother but he wasn't blind to the fact that no one else here would put him on their list of favourite people. Him included, come to think of it. He suspected Beth was just trying to protect him from any scathing words they might have with all the wounds of his brother's loss torn open and made raw again.

"No. I saw him too."

Oddly, this was the line too far. Rick rubbed his temple. "Merle Dixon is a ghost, handing out theological advice? That sounds ridiculous."

"You're having a conversation with someone we saw die," Michonne noted, easing back into Rick's orbit. "I think we're well past what's ridiculous."

Rick glanced at the woman at his side and they seemed to have a complete conversation with nothing more than their eyes. Rick eventually sighed and Michonne smiled triumphantly. Daryl suspected she had put her hand on his knee under the table.

"What's your theory, Beth?" Maggie prompted.

"He said that I didn't belong there. That I wasn't really there. And after he left I went somewhere new. Somewhere frightening."

Her eyelashes lowered as if she was right now back in that room.

"There was a man and he knew my name. But I didn't know him."

Daryl ran a calming thumb along her palm, trying to soothe her trembling.

"And I know this is going to sound crazy. Even crazier than everything I've said earlier. But I think I'm alive."

 **AN: A few of you had picked up on the clues or guessed something along the lines of this. But whether it is true or now, we'll find out!**

 **Please review.**


	18. Chapter 18

Beth should really have predicted the uproar that followed her statement. After all, emotions were already running high and now she was telling everyone that she had started to believe she was alive.

In fact there was only one person who was quiet. Daryl.

When she had confessed her hypothesis, his fingers had clenched around hers hard and electricity gathered in her palms. When it dissipated, her hand was no longer solid.

Daryl's face closed off and he started to tap an uneven rhythm into the table with his finger while the conversation stormed around them both.

If it wasn't so serious, it would have amused Beth the way they danced around trying to mention her death. Trying to be realists without being blunt.

"Beth," Rick began gently. "We saw… it."

"Saw me get shot in the head?" Beth supplied casually. Her forehead prickled and Maggie inhaled a jagged breath.

Rick grimaced at her. "Yes."

"But you didn't see me turn or bury me," Beth added.

"You wouldn't have turned," Carol pointed out, meeting Beth's gaze. She was seemingly the only one not too squeamish to address Beth's murder. "Bullet to the brain stops that."

"True. But there is something-" Beth searched for the right word. "Something _unsettled_ inside me."

"You can't be basing this solely off the word of Merle Dixon," Michonne assessed, leaning her elbows on the table.

"Sometimes I go another place when I'm gone. There is a man and he knows my name."

"Where do you think it is?" Maggie asked, reaching for Beth for a second before drawing her hands back.

"I think it's a hospital. And I'm pretty sure it's Grady."

These words caused a stillness in their wake. No one liked to think about that place including Beth.

"Why would they keep you alive?" Again Carol was able to ask the pointed, necessary questions. And Beth didn't have a good answer.

Under Dawn they'd been ruthless with their resources. Any patient not assessed to have good odds of survival and recovery was left to die. Daryl had said his killing Dawn had caused a spontaneous regime change and that the police officer, thinking on her feet, had brokered a peace treaty.

"Guilt," Daryl supplied, breaking his silence. "They feel guilty."

The way he said it drew Beth's concerned focus. It was heavy, like he was wearing it around his shoulders. If anyone knew what guilt was it was Daryl. She wished she was still holding his hand.

"Whatever the reason, Grady is a long way away," Rick spoke.

"Not so far, I can't go there," Beth shot back, revealing her intentions at the same time.

Daryl's fingers stopped drumming, closing into a fist.

"I can't go that far on sheer will power but I can do it in stages," Beth hurried on, not liking one bit the way Daryl's knuckles were whitening.

Glenn cleared his throat. "What happens when you get there?"

"I don't know," Beth admitted, "But I have to know one way or the other. If I'm alive there, if my body is there, then I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"I'll go with you." The offer was gruff and unexpected but perhaps shouldn't have been. Daryl was staring determinedly at the table. "We'll drive, that way if you're… there as well, we can get you home."

"I don't want to put anyone in danger," Beth said, urging him to meet her eyes.

Daryl snorted. "You're gonna get yourself in danger going by yourself."

"But-"

"Ain't no buts," he cut her off and finally locked her gaze with intensity. "You're not going by yourself."

Everyone else suddenly became very interested in walls and ceiling fixtures as if Daryl's words made them feel intrusive.

"Fine," Beth agreed, secretly cheering inside. The happiness was chipped away in her stomach though with worry for Daryl. Very little could harm her as she travelled the long way back to Grady but Daryl could get hurt. A shadowy voice questioned whether she had done enough to deter him from wanting to join her. She flexed her fingers, remembering how strong she was when they were joined. If she was going to do this she needed him by her side. So she selfishly bit her tongue.

…

Rick crossed his arms and watched him silently as Daryl shoved a backpack full of food. He was going to miss the readily accessible meals at Alexandria but he would be damned if he let Beth waltz off into the countryside, half-corporeal and prone to vanishing, without him there to watch her twenty. Even if this turned out to be fruitless expedition, which Rick's expression articulately shared his opinion of, then it would provide closure for her.

He was trying to pick food that would last, not knowing how long this journey would take, and trying to plan for an extra mouth on the way back without letting hope take him over. It seemed impossible that she might still be alive, kept on a hospital bed somewhere with no ability to leave and her consciousness linked to him. But it had seemed just as impossible that he would see her again. Miracles had been in short supply in the past few years, they were due a few in a row to even out the balance.

"It's dangerous out there," Rick said evenly, picking up packets of powdered soup. He checked the used by date and frowned before shrugging and tossing them to Daryl.

"I know that," he replied, catching the offering with one hand and tucking it down the side of the pack. "I'll be careful."

Rick hummed his acknowledgement of his promise but didn't accept it with any certainty.

"I'm taking the bike so I can avoid roads if I need and move fast."

"Doesn't provide the cover of a car."

"Man, did you come here to help or just to be contrary?"

That evoked a proper reaction from his friend who rolled his eyes at the accusation. "I'm just being the voice of reason. I don't want to stop you and you know that if it wasn't you, there would be a line out the door to help Beth. _But_ she can't get hurt in her current state, you can."

"She _is_ hurt though, if she's right. Then she's alive. And we left her." There was something wild in his words that hitched his voice.

Rick rocked back on his heels, understanding spreading across his face. "We didn't know, Daryl. We couldn't have known."

Daryl's mouth twisted into a bitter smile. "Well, that don't change the truth of the matter."

There was quiet while Daryl scanned the shelves for anything else he might need and Rick studied him.

"You should have said." Rick broke the silence suddenly.

"Said what?" Frustration was leaking in now.

"That'd you'd fallen in love with her."

Rick might as well have dumped cold water over his head for the reaction he got.

Flustered by the simple assessment, Daryl tried to stutter a response, or maybe it was excuses. "I cared about her, never said I didn't."

"You never said anything," Rick corrected sagely. "I knew you were hurting when we lost her and I filled in some of the blanks myself but I didn't know how much she meant to you."

Daryl ran an uncomfortable hand across his knuckles and resisted the urge to flee. What he'd had with Beth had always been so private, something precious he'd kept locked up inside, but now it was out in the open. So far people had been circumspect about weighing in, with the obvious exception of Aaron and Eric who had taken great joy in meddling, but Rick was breaking ranks.

"She's a good person and she doesn't tolerate my shit. What's not to like? But it wasn't like that. Didn't touch her at all."

For some reason, Daryl felt compelled to defend himself. He knew how it might look from the outside. He was a good ten years older than Beth at least and before being separated he could have counted on his fingers the number of times they'd talked. It wouldn't surprise him at all if they jumped to all sorts of conclusions about him taking advantage of their time together.

Rick raised his hands, palms outward, in a soothing gesture. "I'm not making accusations or judgements."

Daryl grunted, letting Rick know what he thought of that.

Rick grinned crookedly. "I'm _not_. Besides, I think it has to be more one sided for you to be taking advantage. She seems plenty sweet on you."

Daryl blushed to the roots of his hair. "Jesus Christ! This what our friendship has become?"

"Why not? It seems pretty normal – two guys talking about women. All we're missing is the beer."

Daryl shook his head and try to level the heat in his face. "You wanna be careful, speaking like that. I could ask you all sort of questions about Michonne."

Rick's shoulder lifted in discomfort but he gamely said, "What do you want to know?"

Daryl lifted his eyebrows at the unexpected opening. "You two something or what?"

"I guess you could say we're something."

"Huh."

"Not like I could take her to the movies or buy her flowers," Rick jibed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Deanna tried to build a cinema while I was gone. And course you can bring her flowers, you're just being lazy."

There was a pause as the other considered their words.

"You wanna braid my hair now?" Daryl asked dryly.

In retaliation, Rick threw a box at him that hit him square in the chest and he managed to catch with barely a fumble. He almost lobbed it back when he realised they were condoms.

"Just in case," Rick stated with a shit-eating grin.

Daryl resisted the urge to put him in a head lock and instead summoned up reserves of calm that he didn't know he possessed. He opened the box and tugged out some of the condoms and threw them back to Rick, catching him in the forehead.

"Just in case," Daryl echoed before slinging the backpack over his shoulder.

…

Beth had never ridden on a motorbike with Daryl before. When she'd been alive and he'd had access to one, he'd had no interest in offering her a ride. And despite her father's increasing liberties, she didn't think it would extend to her getting on the back of a bike.

So she wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist now, enjoying the solidness of his body pressed against her as the wind whipped through her hair. It reinforced her theory more than ever; how else could she draw the strength to be so present. She could hold Daryl, the sun was like a living thing on her skin and adrenaline lit up her nerves like fireworks.

How could she possibly be dead when she was so alive?

Daryl had been grinning and strangely flushed when he'd joined her by the bike but her curious expression had earned her no answers. Instead she had hugged everyone fiercely, whispering promises that she would embrace them properly when she saw them next.

It had occurred to her that it might be never but she refused to indulge that line of thinking. The soft swell of Maggie's stomach was reason enough but it certainly wasn't the complete list.

She was coming back for so many things. She wanted to cuddle Judith again, laugh with Glenn, tease Carl, confide in Maggie, sit in comfortable silence with Michonne, play cards with Sasha, cook with Carol, and tend the garden with Rick. She wanted to curl her very being around Daryl and never let him go.

If she was right, she could have it all. She would also go back to living in danger but that made life so much sweeter, gave each moment more value.

She rested her cheek against Daryl's back, feeling the tense and pull of muscles as he guided the bike with easy mastery. They sped past a number of walkers but they may as well have been in a separate universe for all the harm they could do them on the bike. Right now, Beth was completely untouchable. She was flying.

When the sun began to dip lower in the sky, Daryl stopped the bike for only the second time that day.

"We should find a place to hole up for the night," he murmured. There were tired lines around his eyes but they were bright with determination.

Guiltily, Beth realised he had pushed himself hard this first day to cover as much distance as they could. She filed away a note to tell him to stop more often over the coming days of this journey. They had time. It wasn't worth it if they burnt him out to get there. Exhaustion meant he would make more mistakes and this trip had no room for error.

Beth briefly traced his jaw with affectionate fingers. He leaned into the contact though it was more for herself than him. Now that it was increasingly easy to maintain contact, she was greedy for it, stealing touches whenever she could.

A quick look at map revealed a small dairy farm not that far further and relatively close to the main road.

Daryl preferred that to the closer town. "There are people and walkers in those type of places. While we have food and water, I'd prefer to avoid them."

Beth couldn't fault his logic and she trusted him to know his own limits.

The farm had fallen into disrepair and there was no sign of either people or cows. Beth tried not to think about the potential fate of the animals.

Daryl did a quick sweep of the property and killed the two walkers they came across with neat efficiency. One had gotten tangled in the broken fencing around the main building, another appeared to have wandered in, wearing a frayed fast food uniform. Grotesquely, it was still wearing the bright yellow hat.

"There's an office up the stairs," Beth informed him after doing her own quick sweep of the premises. The quick teleportation had sapped her energy so that her shoulder stooped like Daryl's. He nodded wordlessly as she guided him to the spot. Unable to hold form for the moment, Beth watched as Daryl tugged whatever loose furniture he could find to block off the stairs and creating a series of obstacles so that walkers and people alike would make noise if they approached.

The office also locked which was an added bonus, though Daryl still forced the slightly rotted chair under the doorknob.

By the time they'd done all that, the sun had set, leaving the uneasy gloom that lingered between sunset and night time.

"Think we could risk a candle?" Beth asked.

"Probably not." Daryl was apologetic as he looked around the office that was largely comprised of windows and designed to give a good view of the goings on of the bottom level. "I don't think anyone could see us from the outside but just on the off chance."

Beth didn't mind much, she seemed to give off a dull light of her own that was enough to see by but for Daryl's sake she wished they could light one. The world didn't seem nearly so unforgiving when the edges were softened by candlelight.

Daryl set about fixing some food for himself while Beth scavenged the office. There didn't seem to be much of use. Some dusty pens and paper. An obsolete computer.

Daryl dug hungrily into some dried and salted meat that couldn't be nearly as satisfying as he was making out. Beth rubbed her forehead absently and wiped at the dirt on the window. Her fingers left tracks but her fingertip was clean. There were some perks to this ghost business. Though if she had a body and a heart beat in another state, she didn't know what she was. A shadow? A reflection, maybe?

On a whim, she drew a grid into the dust. With a smile, she placed a little circle in the bottom right hand corner.

"Your turn," she tossed over her shoulder at Daryl.

He took a sip of the bottled water and appraised her work, quickly discerning her motivation. 'Really? Tic-tac-toe?"

"I didn't bring my deck of cards," Beth teased.

"I haven't played this since I was a kid," he grumbled but he still got to his feet.

Beth folded her arms. "Alright, grumpy. Let's raise the stakes!"

"What did you have in mind?" Daryl asked as he drew a small 'x' in the square above hers.

Beth tapped her chin and pretended to contemplate. There were many possibilities. A dare, a favour. "A question. Answered honestly." She drew a circle that was diagonally next to her original marking.

Daryl snorted. "You're on, Greene."

The game was over quick, Beth noticed late that while she had been essentially fixated on going around Daryl, she had neglected to block him.

He tried not to look overly triumphant but his smugness was hard to ignore. "Fine," Beth conceded, with fake tightness (she couldn't care who actually won), "Ask your stupid question."

Daryl ran a hand through his hair and made a show of thinking. "What don't I know about you?"

Beth shoved his shoulder lightly. "Don't be an ass."

"I know you're career criminal and that you've never been drunk and done something you regretted."

"You still remember us playing that stupid game?" Beth queried, not quite able to gauge his expression in the poor light but his tone was still teasing.

"Yep." He didn't say anything further, which Beth took to mean he didn't want to get into the drinking, the ensuing fight and them burning down the house.

"There's still plenty you don't know about me," she prompted, not wanting to be reminded about him sobbing in her arms as both of them came to terms with their world being upended.

"I got one."

"Shoot."

"What did you mean by 'oh'?"

Of all the things he could have asked, of all the things she _expected_ he'd ask, it wasn't that.

That small little word was like a portal into the past and she could recall every detail of sitting across him, Daryl refusing to meet her gaze and the impact of his statement driving into her chest.

"What did you think I meant?" he pressed.

"That's two questions," Beth noted breathlessly.

Daryl shrugged. "Part 1 and 2 of the same question." He was staring at her with an intensity the dark couldn't disguise.

"I remember thinking that-" she drew in a sharp breath, steeled herself to be honest. "I was thinking that I liked the way you were looking at me. And I wished you'd had kissed me because I was so drawn to you."

"Even back then?" the question was quiet and paired with a small step forward. He moved barely an inch closer but she noticed and it ratcheted up the tension.

A nervous laugh escaped. "Back on that goddamn porch when we were both drunk."

Rough hands slid across her cheeks and tangled in her hair. She wished there was more light to see even as she was glad for its absence. The dark wrapped around them like a protective cacoon.

"Back when you hugged me in the prison."

The confession was ragged and he was close enough now that she could feel his breath ease across her lips.

"Though I didn't half know what was happening then."

Beth snaked her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, broaching the distance between them.

Unlike the first two kisses, there was no frenzy or desperation. It was soft now and tentatively explorative. His heart pulsed hard enough that it might as well have been Beth's. It might have been her imagination but she heard a quickening beep under the duller thud of his pulse.

The tension was so fraught that Beth wanted to claw at her clothes, at her skin; to release the untamed thing that was unfurling wings inside.

Daryl's mouth trailed to her neck and a shiver ran the length of her spine that had nothing to do with being cold. In fact, heat trailed in its wake.

She was clutching at his arms, relying on him to keep her grounded and on her feet. Cautious fingers eased the collar of her shirt down her shoulder, also taking the strap of her bra down and exposing creamy skin.

The slow movements were ladened with wordless questions of consent. He was in tune to every reaction, careful not to overstep his bounds. Beth for her part couldn't get enough of his hands on her. Long months of waiting with no solution in sight had churned her up like a storm and now she had an outlet.

When his hand dropped through her like she was nothing more than mist they both cursed. Daryl stumbled back from her as if he'd been electrocuted and Beth threw hands up in frustration, not believing the cruelty of the world.

Beth was no virgin and no stranger to sexual arousal but this was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Her body didn't feel like it was large enough to contain the immensity of emotions, which was ironic since her body couldn't even accommodate her greatest desire.

"Screw this," Beth announced, sounding ridiculously loud in the quiet room, suddenly stubborn.

"It doesn't matter," Daryl hastened to assure her hoarsely, no less sincere despite his palpable frustration.

Ignoring him despite his very real stake in the issue, Beth shook her head. "We can't touch right now, fine. But I don't have to like it and I can sure as shit look for loop holes."

"What-" Daryl's confused inquiries were cut short by her definitely tugging her shirt over her head. Beth didn't pause to wonder what would happen to it either. Right now she didn't much care if the ghostly scrap of fabric disappeared as soon as it lost contact with her body. She couldn't find much to give a fuck about besides the building pressure in her body and the loud intake of breath from across the room.

It was enough to give her pause but not enough to shake her commitment to this course of action. Her hands shook as she reached for the clasp of her bra.

"Beth, you don't have to." Daryl sounded like he was being strangled. "You can stop."

"Do you want me to?"

"God, no." The reverence in which he spoke stoked her confidence.

Her bra went the same way as her shirt.

"Jesus!" That solitary word conveyed so much. Like she was a beautiful artwork he'd just seen for the first time in his life. There was nothing hidden between them in this moment. It made her bold, knowing that the man she loved thought she was perfect. He couldn't touch her but that didn't make her untouchable.

Beth was the only source of illumination in the room which meant she was spotlighted while she could barely see Daryl but somehow she felt his eyes lock with hers and the sense of safety that followed.

Basking in his admiration, she divested herself of her remaining clothes.

She wanted to be sensual and deliberate and slow but she couldn't think straight, driven half-mad. She ran her hand up the inside of her thigh with zero hesitation.

Daryl swore. It sounded like a prayer.

Her head fell back, her mouth dropped open; tremors of satisfaction radiating upwards.

"If only I knew I could do this sooner."

It startled a laugh from both of them that seemed completely right despite the circumstances. That was the last time either of them spoke and the only sounds were their halting and gasping breaths.

At some point, Beth was sure that he'd caved to his own urges, but she knew she still held his attention.

Now more than ever, she knew she wasn't dead, whether or not they found her body. The heat, the weight, the pressure; it was all so vivid.

Her knees gave a little and she grabbed the desk with her spare hand, lost in the sensation, all shyness forgotten. She'd enjoyed sex just fine with Zach but is had never induced this wantonness in her. She wanted Daryl to see all of her.

Beth was teetering on the edge now, driven there by her fingers and her captive audience. In the end, it was a moan from across the room that pushed her over.

She collapsed against the desk, letting it support her weight, as she stared at the ceiling and tried to catch her breath.

As incredible as that orgasm was, with Daryl doing nothing more than witness her surrender herself, she knew it would have been a thousand times better if he'd been involved.

"I need to get my body back."

"Agreed."

 **AN: Hi all, sorry for the delay but I'm looking at a few consistent weeks so hopefully can update more regularly. Please let me know what you think? I went a little off the beaten path with this chapter in terms of sex so I would love to know your thoughts.**


	19. Chapter 19

Daryl wasn't prone to being dramatic but he'd have to that last night would unequivocally be one of the top five best nights of his life. He had been afraid at first that Beth was going to exert herself and send herself spiralling back into Limbo. That fear had been stifled pretty effectively when her bra had dropped to the ground and rational thought had followed soon after.

He realised his fantasies had been doing pretty poor work of Beth. She was a thousand times more compelling and beautiful in reality. His imagination had overlooked small but essential details. Like how delicate her collar bones were, the way she'd bite her lip, the way her fingers trembled.

Honestly, he could die right then and he'd be pretty satisfied with his last night on earth. Of course, it had served as more incentive to get them to Grady as speedily as possible. An ache had set into his bones that his own ministrations had not eased.

Following Beth's glorious display, they'd collapsed into a heap near each other to try and rest, waiting for their pulse to slow before closing their eyes.

Beth had tugged on her clothes much to his dismay but her relief. "I don't understand the physics of this but I'm glad I can put these back on," she'd confessed in a shaky voice, earning a chuckle from him.

"I wouldn't have made any complaints." He was surprised by how obviously flirtatious he sounded. At some point, his guarded walls had tumbled down and he felt more at ease in Beth's company than not. He was sure he'd be back to his awkward, personal fumbling in the morning but for now everything was simple and right.

He'd wished he could have traced patterns into her skin as she dosed off but she had worn herself out too much to take physical form. If she didn't appear so solid to his eyes, he'd be worried.

They'd woken with the sunlight and to both of their relief, Beth was able to touch things again. It would have put a stumbling block in their plan if she couldn't hold on to him or the bike as they travelled.

He looked at the map while he had ate an uninspiring protein bar for breakfast. He'd calculated that it would take about four more days to get to Grady if they encountered no problems and did nothing stupid. It might even be slightly less considering he'd pushed himself the day before. But they'd need fuel. Beth had left him in the office while she scouted the local petrol station in the neighbouring town. He didn't require it yet, but he'd prefer to fill up where he could rather than hope they'd cross paths with a source when the tank was empty.

She was gone barely ten minutes.

"They've got some untouched canisters in the back," she explained, managing to wrap her hair up in a braid.

"That's lucky." Daryl folded the map unevenly and clambered to his feet.

"There are about twenty walkers though so maybe that's why."

Daryl sighed but wasn't surprised. Everything you needed in the world, you had to fight for these days. "We should try for something less dangerous."

Beth shook her head, eyes bright. "I have an idea."

…

Daryl crossed his arms and squinted at Beth. The sun wasn't very high but it had reached an awkward height where it hung just above the horizon and was right in eye line.

"Seems risky," he said because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

There was a chain link fence around the back of the petrol station and from what Daryl could see, it looked like a small mechanic shop. It was hard to gauge much past the walkers. Their presence had clearly hyped them up as they snarled and gnashed the teeth despite the metal.

Daryl wrinkled his nose and shot a cursory look up and down the street. Wouldn't do for some scavengers to sneak up on them.

"I'll be fine," Beth assured him, with the forced patience of someone explaining a concept for the tenth time. "Can't die, remember?"

This wasn't as comforting as she probably intended it but he also wasn't certain he wasn't getting swept up in a bout of over-protectiveness because of last night. Instead of commenting further, he unhooked the knife from his belt and passed it hilt first.

She beamed at him, took it with ease and then pressed a swift kiss to his cheek.

It flustered him but he forced a frown onto his face. "Don't think you get whatever you want just because you go around kissing me."

The smile turned into a smirk. "Challenge accepted."

As tempting as it was to play on the moment and steal more kisses, he waved his hand in the direction of the walkers who weren't softened at all by the romantic display.

"Stay focused," he informed her gruffly.

"Fine," she grumbled sheepishly but not overly chastened. "Watch my back."

She disappeared and his heart stuttered with nerves. He reminded himself that she'd be fine.

He couldn't tell whether the walkers even saw Beth coming. They seemed focused solely on him, which suited him just fine. Beth made quicker work of them, dispatching the walkers faster than he'd seen anyone else except maybe Michonne, and when she returned to his side, there wasn't a spec of blood or dirt on her.

"I'm impressed," he acknowledged pushing himself off the bike. She handed him back the knife and flexed her fingers with a face.

"That was more challenging than I thought, trying to keep a hold of it and make it move the way I wanted."

"You gonna be ok?"

"Sure but I think you'll have to carry the canister out here."

"Typical, I get lumped with the heavy lifting."

She fluttered her eyelashes in his direction. "I like looking at your biceps."

Daryl snorted at the blatant flattery. "I'm going to get it but don't be thinking it was because of your sweet talking."

He heard her laugh from behind him.

…

The next few days passed uneventfully. They had enough food, enough fuel and they'd not run up against any problems. They'd had a few issues with walkers but with Beth able to pull her weight and kill them that had proven to be more of an annoyance than a danger.

Daryl was convinced he'd caught a glimpse of someone alive in the trees on the side of the road but they'd driven past too fast to be sure and he hadn't spotted anyone try to follow them.

Beth was starting to think everything might go according to plan.

That sense of conviction waned as they reached the outskirts of the city. She had held her breath the day before as they'd crossed the state lines back into Georgia. It felt significant but the passage wasn't marked with much more than the tensing of Daryl's shoulders.

By mutual agreement they decided to sleep on the edges of the city before making their way to the hospital. An impending excitement had been building inside Beth, not unlike how she used to feel on Christmas Eve. The uncertainty did nothing to diminish anticipation.

Daryl was quietly confident, or at least pretending to be, that if the same people were in power as when they left, they'd encounter no problems. Shepherd's quick thinking had saved most of the lives in that hallway.

They assessed that the suburbs were their best chance of a quiet night.

"'Sides I wouldn't half mind sleeping in a proper bed."

They used the map to pick a quiet looking street that was off any main roads and required a few twists and turns to get to. Daryl hoped it would be enough to protect them from people and difficult for walkers to naturally stumble across.

When they found a house with high fences that was actually still in one piece, Beth did a quick sweep through to make sure there were no unexpected threats. No walkers, no bodies – it was as close to luxury as one could expect to find these days.

Despite the fairly secure nature of the house, they still retreated to the second level, blocking off the stairs with the couch.

It was late in the day by the time they settled and Daryl didn't bother to tug the curtains.

"Nobody's gonna see us anyway, especially if we don't have any proper light," he explained.

At first Beth was tempted to argue, preferring to shut the curtains and actually see what they were doing. But Daryl seemed determined and she eventually came to see why.

It was a clear night that blanketed the city, filled with stars and a bright moon that wasn't at all diminished by its partiality.

For a long time, they lay in silence on the bed and stared at the sky above. For what felt like an age but was probably far less, Beth got lost in the universe. She released a shuddery breath, her skin prickled as she stared at the endless expanse in front of her. It was so powerfully beautiful she almost believed that if she willed it hard enough, she could travel there and touch them. She would no longer be bound or burdened by the earth or her body.

Daryl stretched beside her, putting his arms under his head.

"What if I'm too injured?" The question was quiet, diminished by the weight of the sky.

"What do you mean?" He didn't roll to look at her but his tone sharpened.

"What if I can't walk? Or if I'm-"

"Stop! Stop speculating."

"But what if that body is no more use to me." She bit down the word _my_. If she thought too much about the possibility her body might be nothing more than a broken, vacated shell, it was too personal. Better if it was just any old hunk of flesh for now.

"Then we keep going the way we are."

Beth realised then that it was simple to Daryl; as much as anything ever was simple. If this trip didn't turn up a new solution then they'd move on to the next one. He had an uncanny ability to compartmentalise when necessary. She had seen it when they'd escaped the prison, though then his behaviour had crawled under skin. Now she found it comforting. Whatever happened, they'd take another step forward. Together.

She tried to remember that when they approached the hospital, relying on Beth's memory to guide them to the best point of entry. There had been guards in place when she'd lived here and there was every chance they knew she was coming.

Daryl hadn't thought much of their plan of approaching overtly. But Beth wanted answers, figured they were owed to her. Daryl had opted for a gun that was discreetly strapped within easy reach. The hilt of his knife was also bared so that if needed, Beth could grab it to defend them both.

They inched closer, Daryl muttering the entire time, and Beth scanning the building so closely her eyes burned. Maybe it was her imagination but energy was emanating from inside, tugging her closer. Each step generated a small flutter of pain in her forehead but a sense of rightness all the same.

"Who goes there?" a voice boomed from above.

The suddenness of it startled both of them but not enough to stop Daryl from rolling his eyes at the stupid question. The lawlessness of this current world was no reason to start playing at being a pirate or a cowboy.

"I'm here to speak to Officer Shepherd. I'll wait here until you get her."

There was no question or asking for permission. Just a slightly assuming command. Daryl was hoping the guard was so used to following orders that he'd do what he was told.

The guards were clearly confused and Beth's stomach twisted in knots as they conferred. She could very well be dead after all this time and Beth didn't much like the thought of dealing with any of the other officers.

"I'll go get her. Don't move." The guard attempted to be authoritarian even as he obeyed Daryl's directive.

"Didn't I just say I'd stay here?" Daryl grumbled under his breath. "Thank you," he called more civilly. His watchful eyes scanned the panorama. A few walkers ambled far enough away that it wouldn't be an issue.

"What do you think?" He directed the question at Beth out of the corner of his mouth.

"I need to get inside," she replied, fixating on the guards above her. She would wait with Daryl until the situation resolved itself but ultimately no one was stopping her from going in.

Just when she was beginning to worry that she was going to have to do things the hard way, a face appeared where the original guards had been. The woman had her hair pulled back into a tight bun and had to shade her view.

The shock registered on Shepherd's face, chasing confusion closely. "You!"

Beth inched closer to Daryl but there was no anger in the officer's tone. Mostly it was surprise.

"Me," Daryl responded dryly, brushing the back of his hand against Beth's fingers to reassure her.

Shepherd quirked an eyebrow. "I have something that belongs to you."

Daryl's shoulders dropped with his exhalation but he kept his face carefully schooled. "Figured as much."

"Some _thing_?" Beth echoed, taking issue with the officer's choice of words. It was easier than processing the fact that she'd just confirmed what Beth had known in her heart, in her bones. Somehow she was beyond those walls and alive. She was something.

"Let them in," Shepherd instructed curtly. Her subordinates hesitated but then obeyed.

…

Daryl led the way in warily, weapon in easy reach. Beth was practically vibrating at his side, eager to get where she needed to go. Daryl for his part was intent on keeping her by his side. There was too much to lose now. He'd wanted to believe Beth when she told him she was alive but he wasn't sure he truly had. Part of him, trained to temper hope, had reminded him the odds weren't in their favour; after all, he'd seen her get shot. Not that it stopped him from agreeing to come with her to check. There wasn't much he wouldn't do if Beth asked it of him.

But she'd been correct this whole time and his responsibility shifted from managing her disappointment to keeping them both alive and unscathed.

His tension levels lowered slightly when he saw Shepherd approaching them, her gait even and expression open. Even more telling, her hands were empty and where he could see them.

"I didn't think we'd ever see you again," she told him, skimming right past any type of greeting. "We looked. When we realised she was alive we looked for your group but found nothing."

Guilt stirred in his stomach. If they had spent more time tending to Beth's body than they would have known she was alive.

As if reading his thoughts, Beth spoke. "I was in the best place possible." She waved her hands at the hospital walls. The old health warnings from before were still stuck to the corridors though they were faded and almost irrelevant.

"Take me to her," he finally rasped, realising he'd not yet responded to Shepherd.

The officer nodded wordlessly and gestured for him to follow her. They passed a number of people on the way, people working but smiling, children playing, and small herb gardens in the windowsills. It was homey.

"Things have changed," Shepherd quietly told him and, unknowingly, Beth. "The behaviour that Dawn tolerated has been stamped out."

"Can't get rid of human nature," Daryl offered cynically.

Shepherd conceded his point with a nod of her head. "True but it does less well when you don't turn a blind eye."

"She's better than I remembered," Beth assessed, studying the officer with coded eyes.

The hospital became less lived in as they went by and began to resemble a standard health care facility. With no fanfare, Shepherd opened a door and ushered them in.

Daryl stopped in his tracks like he'd been hit between the eyes. Lying prone on the bed was Beth's body, solid and pale. She gasped at the sight of herself and grasped his arm tightly. He could see why – it was both her and not her.

He'd gotten so used to the spectral version of Beth that he'd let little details lapse. There were scars on her face and she was far thinner than he'd ever seen her. The blond hair he'd grown so fond of was cropped short in some places.

Beth left his side and drifted closer as if afraid the body might sit up and bite her. There was a heart monitor attached to her that was letting out a steady beep but for all appearances, she could be sleeping. The rise and fall of her chest was subtle. Beth reached out to this other version of herself and brushed her fingers lightly over the worst of the scars on her forehead. The body rippled under her touch and Beth jerked her fingers back alarmed.

The door opened behind them and Daryl jumped, reaching for his weapon. When he realised it was a doctor he lifted his hands away from the crossbow. Shepherd had obviously sent word to him.

"How?" it was all the questions Daryl could manage.

"The brain is a fickle thing," the Doctor said and extended a hand. "Doctor Freeman."

"Some kind of pun?" Daryl asked absently. Beth was paying little to no attention to the conscious bodies in the room.

"No a very funny one," Freeman noted, easily. His bedside manner had clearly survived the apocalypse. "Shall we talk about Beth's condition?"

"Yes," Daryl and Beth both said in synchronicity. So she was listening.

"She was actually very lucky, as far as gunshot victims go. The bullet didn't get lodged and it only passed through the left hemisphere of her brain." The doctor moved closer to the bed as he spoke with the familiarity of someone who was here every day. Shepherd crossed her arms and leaned against the wall in silence.

"It went in at an upward angle so it missed the brain stem and the thalamus."

Daryl nodded even though he didn't understand half of the words.

"Why am I still asleep?" Beth asked and Daryl repeated the question.

"She's in a medically induced sleep at the moment. As best we can tell, her spinal cord is unaffected. When she wakes up, she tends to thrash about and we're worried she'll do some damage before her body fully heals."

"Is she still not healed?" Daryl's throat was tight, she looked so small on the bed.

Freeman smiled sympathetically. "She is lucky beyond words to still be alive but she still suffered massive brain trauma.

Daryl edged closer and unable to resist, took one of her small hands in his. Her fingers fluttered against his skin, warmer than before. The ghostly version of his Beth, covered the joined hands with hers.

"What's the bad news?"

He didn't want to ask that but Beth did.

"It's hard to tell with her asleep," Freeman confessed. "Like I said, we're confident she'll be able to walk and physically function once her body recuperates. The bullet damaged the left frontal lobe unfortunately though so whether she will be able to speak or understand us is more questionable."

"I can understand them," Beth told Daryl. "I heard them when I was here."

"And you won't know if she can speak until…?"

"Until we wake her up."

"Do it!" Beth instructed forcefully.

"She'd want you to wake her up," Daryl translated, mind reeling and wishing he had more time to comprehend what was happening. If they woke her up, would the two versions become one? What if he lost everything that made her special behind the brain injury and he could never talk to her?

The doctor hesitated. "She'd breathing without a machine so we can slowly wean her off the drugs keeping her asleep but I'm not sure it-"

"Wake me," Beth insisted, frustrated that the doctor couldn't hear her.

"Gotta find out one way or the other, Doc," Daryl said, fighting the suddenly overwhelming urge to shout.

"Normally we don't do this without next of kin permission."

The doctor was stalling but Daryl didn't much blame him. He could tell they'd gone to great lengths to keep her alive against all the odds.

"She's my family."

Freeman glanced over his shoulder at Shepherd who inclined her head, face pinched tight.

…

Beth winced as the needle slid into her skin. Even though she couldn't actually feel it, she imagined she did.

Shepherd had managed to convince Daryl to go get some food and water, after Freeman informed them it might be hours before Beth actually woke up. Beth assured him she would be fine by herself. She was more than capable of looking after her body.

Freeman lingered behind in the room, checking her pulse and listening to her breathing. He squeezed her shoulder affectionately.

"Looking forward to meeting you properly," he told her. Beth wanted to thank him for keeping her alive but unfortunately it was a one way conversation. She didn't recognise him from her previous time at Grady, he must be a new doctor. He shut the door as he left with promises to check on her in fifteen minutes.

Beth was left alone with herself, mapping her body with her eyes. The bullet wound had left a jagged scar in her forehead that was somewhat at odds with the tidy scar across her cheekbone that had been stitched before she'd died… been shot.

Beth tentatively ran light fingers across her cheek. Her skin was warm and soft. She felt so alive that Beth wondered how she had ever thought she could be satisfied with this shadow existence she was currently living. Her body wasn't perfect, less so now than before, but it was hers. It held her heart and her mind.

Whatever she was now was just one piece of a puzzle.

The Beth on the bed drew in a sharp, shuddery breath, her eyelids fluttering.

A hook latched in Beth's chest and she was pulled tumbling forward, into her body and further. To her utter dismay, when she orientated herself she realised she was in the white room.

"No, no, no!" Beth muttered, spinning in a circle. She was this close to getting everything she wanted.

Panic rose in her like a tide, drowning logic and calm. Someone cleared their throat to the side.

A man sat in a comfortable looking armchair that was awfully familiar. "What's got you all flustered, Bethy?"

Beth bit her lip and fought down tears. "Daddy?"

Hershel leveraged out of the chair and opened his arms wide. Beth crossed the distance between them in a few quick steps, flinging herself into his embrace. He pressed her tight against his chest and Beth clung to him.

"What are you doing here?" she breathed, taking him in. His kind eyes were just as she remembered, and there was no sign of the injury he'd endured.

"I came to say hello why I still could," Hershel explained, gently pushing her into the armchair's twin. She recognised them because they were from the farmhouse.

"Why not before?"

"Because I didn't want you to stop fighting to get back. I thought if you saw me then you might want to come with me instead."

Beth brushed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I would have liked to see you all the same."

"I'm here now," Hershel pointed out with a crooked grin and a mischievous twinkle. "Now that you have a pretty compelling reason to go back. More than one if my sources are right."

"Maggie is having a baby."

He reached across to take her hand. "She is and you tell her how much I love her and hug that baby closely for me."

Throat burning, Beth could only nod.

"And you tell Daryl that just because I'm dead doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on him."

That startled a watery laugh from Beth. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear that."

Hershel snorted. "He's not a bad sort, that boy. Skittish, but a good heart."

"I think so." Beth was so pleased to see her father but sadness bore on her shoulders. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. And this is just a temporary good bye. One day we'll see each other again." Hershel leaned forward and captured her chin in his large hand. "But not for a long, long time, you hear?"

"Yes sir," Beth said reverently.

Hershel chuckled and winked. "Time to wake up, sweetheart." He kissed her softly on the forehead.

Beth closed her eyes, savouring his presence for a second longer and when she opened them again, he was gone and she was in a hospital bed. Every inch of her ached but it was forgotten when she caught sight of Daryl, staring down at her.

"Welcome back."


	20. Chapter 20

A rough palm cupped her cheek, which felt a trillion times more sensitive than a minute before. Daryl was scanning her face urgently.

Beth manage a weak smile, letting the barrage of new sensations wash over her. Daryl's shoulders slumped in relief when he saw her grin, a crooked smile of his own appearing at the corners of his mouth.

"Hi," he said simply.

"How are you feeling?" Doctor Freeman interjected, appearing uncomfortable at interrupting but care of his patient superseding the reunion.

Beth paused to consider his question. There was an aching inside that went down to her bones but no acute pain. And she was tired, god was she tired despite the irony of it. She was aware of a hundred different things at once – the beat of her heart, the rise and fall of her chest, the pulse of blood in her veins. Being alive again was disorientating. She wasn't entirely sure she could put it into words so she settled on 'fine'.

But when she open her mouth nothing came out. The word - that simple, four letter word – caught in the back of her throat and stayed there. She tried again but there was only a strangled grunt where the word should be.

"Beth?" Daryl had no such trouble speaking and her name was laden with worry.

Eyes wide, she shook her head. She had so much she wanted to say but she couldn't.

Freeman came closer to the bed and with a firm hand on Daryl's shoulder, guided him out of the way. Beth had her fingers pressed against her neck, willing her vocal chords to repair. The sobbing breath she released conveyed the panic she could no longer express.

The doctor's eyes were serious but when he spoke, his voice was calming. "Don't panic, Beth. You've just woken up from a long coma."

Beth wanted to shout obscenities at him for being so level-head. Maybe she was being churlish, after all most people lost more than the ability to speak when they were shot in the head. But all she could think was, ludicrous as it was, that she'd never even told Daryl she loved him.

He had crossed his arms in the corner, trying to keep composed but the tension in his jaw and the frantic tap of his index finger against his elbow revealed otherwise.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" Freeman asked like he would a child.

Beth rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes. I have to ask these questions."

Suitably chastened, Beth nodded.

"You can understand me fine?"

Beth jerked her head up and down, focusing only on the doctor because looking at Daryl made her want to cry.

"Can you wiggle your toes for me?"

Beth did as requested and noticed the lines around his eyes softened when he saw her toes move.

"That's really good, Beth. This is all great."

She pointed at her throat with a raised eyebrow letting the gesture talk for her.

"You've survived a trauma, Beth, this isn't as bad as it seems. It might take a while before your voice comes back to you. Until then, I'll get you a pen and paper."

It wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible. Beth forced deep breathes into her belly to clear her racing head. She could understand what everyone was saying and she could move her body. It seemed like an easy trade to make.

"I'll let you get some rest today, but try not to move around without help. You've been in that bed for a long time and your muscles won't be able to do what they were able to before."

"We can't travel if she can't walk," Daryl noted.

"You're welcome to stay with us until she's able to comfortably travel. We're not going to put you out on the street," Freeman assured them both. "I'll let you two get reacquainted."

Suddenly they were alone and the pause that lingered was awkward.

"I don't mind the silence, I might win an argument or two if you can't talk." The joke was harsh and jagged – he was too concerned to lighten the mood properly. Beth appreciated the attempt and mimed sarcastic laughter.

That was enough to break the spell that kept him pressed against the far side of the room. He crossed the distance between them and captured her hand in his.

She tugged him onto the bed and he only hesitated briefly – "I don't want to jostle you."

As soon as she could she wound herself around Daryl's body. It was so different – he was more tangible for one thing.

He sighed against the top of her head. "I'm sorry, Beth. I know this isn't what you wanted. Sure as shit wasn't what I wanted."

Beth shook her head, cheek pressed hard against his chest so one ear could listen to him and the other could hear his heart. She tightened her grip on him and tried to tell him that she was happy to be alive, happy to be able to hold him like this.

It occurred to her than that she'd been lying in this bed for however long and hadn't had a shower in all that time. She probably stunk and it was such a silly, vain thing to think but she was too tired to dwell on it over much. She drifted off to sleep against him.

…

Daryl lifted his eyebrows as he saw what Beth had written on the notebook. It was rude and nothing he could imagine coming out of her mouth.

He knew her levels of frustration were sky high though as she tried to raise her right leg again as instructed by Freeman. Freeman to his credit seemed wholly unperturbed by the obscene words scribbled jarringly in Beth's neat handwriting.

"Channel that anger into the final exercise," he said instead as Daryl pretended to read a magazine in the chair by the wall. He didn't need to be a lip reader to tell Beth mouthed something equally rude but she did as the doctor asked.

Daryl didn't like being sidelined but Freeman had sat him down for an earnest chat while one of the women hustled Beth off to have a shower.

"I know you're going to want to be as involved in her recovery as possible but there are going to be times when the progress will be slower than she wants, when she wants to give up and she'll get upset."

"So?" Daryl hadn't gotten the point Freeman was trying to make yet.

"Upset people get mean. I'm not sure the exact nature of your relationship but you don't want to start representing that anger and frustration. Better I take it on as her doctor and you are kept separate."

Daryl had wanted to argue but he liked Doctor Freeman and his easy, frank manner and the way he had kept Beth alive. So he'd agreed and the doctor has been right, as snappy as the rehabilitation therapy made Beth, she never turned it on Daryl. The doctor was more interested in rebuilding her body, confident her voice would return in time and when she was ready.

So Daryl and Beth spent a lot of quiet nights together in the two weeks they'd been at Grady, doing things that didn't require speaking. Sometimes they played cards and sometimes scrabble. One night she'd pushed a book into his hands with a shy smile. Daryl had coughed uncomfortably, having flashbacks to his miserable school years but he knew how to read and his embarrassment was overcome by his desire to make Beth happy.

She seemed more interested in listening to him than the plot of the book regardless. She would trace idle patterns into his arm as he read out loud to her. At one stage he realised that pattern was a heart and he stumbled over the passage in the book. Beth didn't notice his hesitation and so he didn't draw attention to it, trying to assure himself it meant nothing while hoping at the same time that it did.

They were there a month before Freeman began to give them an indication of when they might be able to leave. Beth was anxious to get back to Maggie and that wish had given her drive to complete the physical exercises.

"Maybe another week," Freeman confided to Daryl privately. "I don't want to tell her that because if for some reason there is a setback, then I don't want her getting disappointed. Disappointment is the worst emotion for recovery."

"I take it she still won't be able to take the motorbike?" Daryl suggested, already knowing the answer.

"I think it is best if we send you back in a proper vehicle. If we find a truck you can strap the bike in the back."

Daryl nodded, appreciating how much they'd done for them here at Grady. It was a completely different place to what Beth had described and that appeared to largely be due to Shepherd. She had quickly discovered that it wasn't necessary to hold people hostage or raise a debt against them to force them into labour – most people wanted to be somewhere safe with a sense of purpose and law and order to fall back on. If they hadn't been expected elsewhere, it would have been a good place to settle down.

"Can I ask you a question?" The doctor turned to Daryl unexpectedly.

Daryl nodded, guards going up immediately. In his experience, nothing good ever came of people asking him questions.

Freeman didn't beat around the bush. "While I was monitoring her, there were periods of time where she was registering as brain dead. Her body was alive but there was no one in the driver's seat."

"What is it you want to know exactly?"

"I want to know if she was with you when she wasn't here."

Daryl considered the doctor. "You believe in that kind of thing?"

"I'm a man of science but I know there is some stuff science can't explain," Freeman acknowledged with an easy shrug.

"I think this is one of those instances," Daryl hinted, not completely wanting to share what he and Beth had gone through when she'd been nothing more than a ghost. He wasn't playing coy and he did trust the doctor but even if he suspected the answer, hearing it and believing it were two separate things.

Freeman stared at him for a beat. "Fair enough. I'll see if shepherd can't find you a truck that fits your specifications."

…

Being alive again came with an adjustment period. Not only did Beth have to get used to the physical sensation of being in a body but she had to acclimatise to all the things that went along with it. Tiredness, hunger, thirst – things she hadn't experienced for a long time. She had to remember to eat three times a day and drink water.

She missed being able to go from one room to another with barely a thought and she still hadn't gotten used to the fact that everyone could see her. She'd strayed a little close to a couple of women tending the gardens on the roof and they'd both jumped when they saw her which in turn startled Beth.

Daryl had laughed loudly when she had written the experience down. Words were still proving elusive but she had graduated to sounds and was able to tell him that she didn't find it very funny at all with a sniff.

He had stifled his laughter, though not completely, and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. He was effectively forgiven from that point.

Though a few chaste kisses were all they had indulged in. While Beth was able to walk with relative ease now, she still grew tired and weak quickly. Those kisses were fast becoming less pleasant and more agitating because Beth always wanted more but Daryl was a damn sight too careful for his own good. Or maybe it was too careful for _her_ own good.

Beth had found her second stay at Grady incomparably better than the first time but when Doctor Freeman gave her the tick of approval to leave, she was enormously pleased. As nice as Grady had become it was still a hospital that held one too many negative memories, and it certainly wasn't home.

Maggie hadn't even been showing when she'd left Alexandria but now she should have a bump in her stomach where the newest member of their family was growing.

She slept most of the way out of the city, trusting Daryl to navigate the streets and get them safely back onto the highway.

They travelled until the sun started to sink lower in the sky then tried to find shelter. Daryl consulted the map which the scouts of Grady had helpfully circled with safe places to sleep. A little ways back from the road was a camping ground. The whole property was encircled with a high fence which was still intact.

They pulled up alongside the fence and they both tilted their heads at the obstacle. It would be hard getting Beth over that at present.

"We'll use the truck and then I'll move it once you're safely over."

Beth bit her tongue and nodded. Daryl treating her with kid gloves was not the most empowering but she knew it was absolutely necessary. They clambered onto the roof and Daryl helped her ease over, lowering her slowly with a look of such extreme concentration that Beth might have laughed if she didn't feel so useless. Maybe he sensed the direction of her thoughts, because he smirked at her. "You haven't seen graceful until I try and do this."

Pride soothed somewhat by the self-deprecating joke, Beth dropped to her feet. Her knees buckled but she managed to stay upright, using the fence for support.

"You alright?"

Beth gave him a thumbs up. She was panting from the exertion.

"I'll move the truck and come back."

Beth made a sound low in the throat to confirm she understood.

Daryl scanned the area around her quickly and, satisfied she was safe, clambered down into the truck cabin.

The engine was fading as Daryl took the truck behind some trees when she heard the scuffing of dragging feet in dirt.

Whirling in the direction of the noise, Beth's heart leapt into her mouth. Apparently the fence wasn't as impenetrable as they'd been led to believe. A walker groaned and shuffled in her direction. Half its face had been scraped off by god knows what but its one remaining eye was fixated on Beth.

Beth's scrambled at her belt for her knife. She wasn't immune to walkers any more. Mouth dry, she realised she hadn't restored the weapon to where it had hung when she was alive. She snatched up the backpack that Daryl had thrown over before leaving. Her fingers were slow and clumsy as she fought the zipper down.

The walker was on her before she got out the weapon and Beth only managed to slow it with her hands. Her brain shouted instructions at her body; push it away! Slam it on the ground! Stomp on its head! But her body could not respond in kind. Her arms shook as she held it off her, elbows bending slightly as it snarled in her face. The yellowed bone of its jaw was exposed and it glinted in the afternoon sun.

Daryl's name sat on her tongue. She couldn't call for help. The noise and desperation snared and panicked in her chest like a fly caught in a spider web until it burst forth and she was screaming.

Half of her registered that Daryl was shouting her name but the rest of her was consumed with avoiding those teeth. Her entire being vibrated with the effort of surviving but she hadn't come this far only to give in. Her mouth twisted in a grim line of determination.

The fence shuddered against her back and then Daryl was barrelling into the creature, both of them sprawling in the dirt. Beth reached for the weapon she hadn't managed to retrieve earlier but Daryl was faster with his knife. He rammed it hard into the skull of the struggling walker.

The silence that followed was overbearing.

"God dammit, Beth," Daryl spat as he got to his feet. "You have to carry your knife on you!" As he scolded her he grabbed her wrists and extended her arms, then seeing they were unharmed, looked at her neck and face.

Beth was too rattled to respond to his anger, her throat was red and raw from the screeching.

Daryl continued to bluster; swearing at the creature and rebuking her. He snatched up his crossbow. "We need to do a lap to see where it got in. If it were obvious, half the walkers in the state would be in here from the noise."

He wouldn't look at her and Beth put it down to being focused. They found the gap in the fence and it was really small. That was where the walker had left the other half of its face in an effort to get in.

Daryl produce some cable ties from the bag and sealed it up. Beth was waiting for him to stop glowering or even for him to stop avoiding her with his eyes but his behaviour persisted well into the evening. She'd never seen anyone heat up soup in a more furious fashion before. It was as if both the can and the small gas stove had personally wronged him.

Beth scribbled a message and held it up to him. _Are you ok_?

"I'm fine," he hissed out. "Just mad."

 _Mad at me?_

"No!" he practically barked his response before blowing out air and saying again. "No."

He ran a hand through his hair as Beth scratched out a follow up.

 _Sure seems like you are!_ She cocked her head on an angle and stared at him.

"I'm not angry at you. I'm just… angry that this is the world we still live in. I just got you back and already the shit has started."

 _It's not always going to be like this_. Beth tried to comfort him.

Daryl snorted and focused on their meal. "Sure. I wish I could believe you."

Beth didn't bother to write anything and chose instead to wrap her arms around his middle.

"I find something good and the world tries its damndest to take it away again. Startin' to seem like I don't deserve to be happy."

He was talking more to the universe than to her now so Beth let him vent, relieved that she hadn't been the target of his ire but heartbroken that after everything he still thought so little of himself.

"It would be just my luck that the woman I fall in love with dies not just once but twice."

His back stiffened against her cheek as he realised what he'd said and Beth for her part was frozen too. After everything they'd been through, he'd never told her he'd loved her and she'd never said it to him either. It had been implied in so many looks, and touches and whispered conversations but never said out loud.

"Not that you're going to die," he blurted out, cheeks turning a shade of red that Beth hadn't seen Daryl turn in months.

"Shit. I would have told you in a more romantic type of way but I'm an asshole."

Beth regarded the man she loved, who loved her, and no, he wasn't polished or romantic but he was perfect for her.

With a soft smile, Beth held her palm to her heart before turning that hand to rest over the heartbeat in his chest.

Her own way of saying, _I love you too_!

Daryl stepped into her, invading her personal space and stared down at her. The corner of his mouth twisted up. "No accounting for taste I suppose," he teased before leaning down to kiss her and it was a soft and romantic as the declaration hadn't been.


	21. Chapter 21

_We could have kept going_! Beth showed her notepad and stifled a yawn.

"Sure," Daryl drawled and examined the cards he had tucked in against him. "Any fours?"

Beth tapped her pen against the picture of the fish she'd drawn earlier.

"Been doing a lot of fishin' lately. Starting to seem like someone might be cheating," Daryl grumbled half-heartedly as he selected a new card off the deck.

Beth batted her eyelashes and tried to look innocent while making sure the four she had definitely wasn't visible. Cheating wasn't particularly Christian but Daryl was unfortunately hilarious when he was losing cards. Besides, loser had to cook dinner.

They were barely a day out from Alexandria, their progress a lot slower returning than what they'd made on the way to Grady. Beth had improved a hundred fold but Daryl was still erring on the side of caution, pulling over to find shelter the second her eyelids began to droop.

And for her part, as eager as Beth was to get home, she wasn't exactly rushing. She was enjoying spending this time with Daryl completely alone without an audience. It was a badly kept secret that they cared for each other but that would become more apparent once they started sharing a bed. Neither of them had decided how things would work when they got back to Alexandria – would she move in with Daryl? Would she move in with Maggie? Would she move into a whole separate space? Regardless of the living situation, Beth felt fairly confident that things would be ok between them.

A warmth had nestled in her chest after his accidental declaration of love. And honestly, how else would Daryl tell her he loved her?

The smile had barely left her face since. And to her pleasant surprise, Daryl hadn't spiralled into self-doubt. Though there were occasions where he was over protective but Beth accepted it as it was intended, with good grace if not a few eye rolls.

"We'll be back home tomorrow," he pointed out idly, after losing the game and heating up a less than appealing can of beans. There were some cucumbers and tomatoes as well, gifts from Grady, that had started to go a bit soft and were on the wrong side of ripe but it was a pleasure to eat anything fresh so they ate them all them same.

 _I'm looking forward to it_.

"You ready?" he asked, spooning more beans into her bowl than his. She scooped them back into his when his back was turned to get what remained of the vegetables.

 _Why wouldn't I be?_

"Because you've been through a lot and I want to make sure you're prepared to be surrounded by people who can actually see and talk to you."

 _Talk?_ Beth wrote snidely and pointed at her throat.

Daryl shot her a withering look. "You know well and good what I meant. Besides, you'll be talking in no time."

Beth didn't necessarily share Daryl's confidence in this assertion. She was finding sounds easier and easier to manage, which Daryl interpreted as the return of her ability to speak. Beth wasn't as certain but she also minded less and less. She was able to write and as Daryl had put it, she had a plenty expressive face.

She'd miss singing though, and the one thought that gave her pause, was that she wouldn't be able to sing lullabies to Maggie and Glenn's baby.

 _I'm ready!_

"Judging by the amount of exclamation marks you used, I'm guessing your mind is made up."

Beth added a few more exclamation marks for good measure.

"Ok, was just asking. And don't think I didn't see you sneak the food back onto my plate."

Beth shrugged and began eating, while Daryl shook his head in fond exasperation.

…

A year back, Daryl would have told anyone that asked that he didn't believe in magic or ghosts or hoodoo. Now, experience had made him slightly more open minded on the topic but he still would have told them that regardless, he thought psychics were a crock of shit.

But when he came across the fallen tree in the middle of the road, he experienced a premonition so strong it rattled his bones. This was no act of fate or nature but by design and he'd seen enough movies to know that whenever someone went around cutting down trees, it never ended well for the protagonists.

"I don't like this," he murmured to Beth, whose tense shoulders and cagey surveillance of the tree line indicated she agreed with him.

Beth pointed behind them, suggesting they go back the way they came and find a new path forward. It was frustrating. Alexandria was forty minutes ahead of them. Still, a delay was better than dead. Daryl would go another 100 days out of the way to ensure Beth's survival.

That might cause her to protest. She'd been infinitely patient with what could be called overbearing protectiveness. But people were mortal, they could be killed. She could be killed.

But Beth was a survivor and he knew better than most that she hated being treated like a helpless child. Maybe it was because she understood that he was trying to protect himself as much as her. His soul felt fragile after confessing that he was in love with her, as if his affection for her had made him so much better than what he was. It had spun him into fine crystal at risk of being shattered at any point.

"We'll go back," he announced both to her and nobody in particular.

The truck rumbled backwards a few paces before there was a small explosion of sound and the truck dipped on the back left-hand corner.

Daryl cursed, it was the wheel of the truck. They could drive with one wheel blown out but nowhere fast. And if there were vehicles patrolling what he was fairly certain was a trap, then they might need to get out of there quickly.

Daryl was weighing his options frantically, knowing they couldn't stay there much longer when a piece of paper was shoved under his nose.

 _Bike?_

"Can you hold on?"

Beth grimaced but nodded.

"Alright," Daryl agreed tersely and the pair of them went into action. Beth grabbing backpacks and weapons, while Daryl jumped up on the back of the truck to lower the ramp.

Beth let out a small yelp of pain and it flooded Daryl with so much adrenaline that he basically materialised by her side.

"What?"

Beth used his shoulder to balance and then studied the underside of her boot. She had stepped on a nail but the sole of her shoe had prevented the brunt of it. With a hiss, she yanked it out and mouthed 'w _hat the fuck_?'

Daryl wanted to fuss around her but knew he couldn't. He squeezed her shoulder and went back to work but he'd barely taken a step himself when he saw another nail on the ground and the more he stared, the more he saw. The road on their side of the tree was not as bad, a few stray nails and screws here and there; but on the other side of the tree they caught the sun in the thousands.

It seemed like the trap was set up to target any one leaving Alexandria. The tree was to make them stop, the shrapnel would ensure they wouldn't retreat very far.

"We have to go, Beth," Daryl grunted as a piercing sound whistled through the trees, forcing him to duck. It was a bullet and it passed over their heads safely.

Another shot echoed and Daryl swore again and loudly. They'd finally attracted the attention of whoever had designed this snare.

Beth was pressed against the side of the truck taking cover while Daryl tried to assess where the bullets were coming from. Whoever it was, they weren't a great shot. The bullets were flying erratically past them with no thought to aim or conserve ammo. Not that it made Daryl less worried – all they needed was a bit of dumb luck and he and Beth would be injured or worse.

Their assailants had the upper hand and they were making enough of a ruckus that walkers would be heading in their direction soon. It was possible it might attract assistance from Alexandria too but Daryl couldn't afford to wait. They needed to get back in the truck and drive. If they followed in cars, they could deal with that problem then.

"Back in the truck!" he called to Beth, who was already scrambling at the door handle without his shouted instructions.

He was waiting until there was a pause in the shooting to make his break for the driver's side when sheer mathematics steered the odds in the gunman's favour. A bullet tore through the windows of the truck and struck Beth.

It happened in slow motion. Daryl heard the noise and he saw the pain on her face as her shoulder jerked back, spinning her to the ground. Daryl's vision swum red as he watched her crumple before him.

He snatched up his crossbow and stood upright, sighting into the trees with no regard for his own safety. A bullet ripped the air above him, lack of skill keeping his head in one piece but he spotted the gunman. He could only see one though he was confident there were more people with weapons in those trees.

Sighting down the weapon, an icy numbness rising inside him, Daryl released an arrow and saw with furious satisfaction that it struck his target.

There were howls of despair as the gunman went down and the woods came alive with surging attackers, shrieking and brandishing weapons. Daryl was ready to take them all on until sanity came rushing back to him in the form of Beth grabbing his elbow, dragging him back towards the truck.

She was bleeding from her shoulder but it had cut into the top of her skin only. She was hurt but she would be fine. Beth's mouth was sealed into a thin line of pain and determination as she shoved him forcefully towards the driver's seat and clambered into the passenger's side.

Daryl slammed the truck into reverse and it squealed and puttered and protested but they moved. People spilled out into the street, and even from a distance Daryl would see the Ws etched into their foreheads.

They had to warn Alexandria somehow but they weren't going to do that until Beth's wounds were treated. She wouldn't abide being left behind and the smell of blood would have walkers on them like sharks in the ocean.

Daryl drove them to a place Aaron had showed him during one of their many scouting trips. It had been a research facility to study wildlife. It was easy to go past, it blended into its surroundings by design. Upon first seeing it, Daryl had scoffed. How were you supposed to come to understand animals if you sealed yourself away from them? Still it proved an effective place to hide additional supplies, weapons and a medical kit or two.

Daryl parked the truck in the least obvious spot he could find and rushed around to help Beth out but she was already stumbling on her legs.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and ignored the groaned protests as she tried to swat him away.

"Don't be stubborn," he chided, trying to stay calm as her blood made her shirt sticky to touch. That admonishment earned her cooperation.

He locked the door behind him and was relieved to see not much had changed, a little less food than last time maybe but the first aid kit was still on a bench next to a bunch of obsolete computer equipment. He opened it and was disappointed to find it was basic. A couple of ice packs, a few bandages, some baby wipes, and not much more.

Beth slumped into a chair, eyes closing much to his panic. "Beth, stay awake."

Shock and possibly blood loss were taking their toll. He cracked a bottle of water and made her take a few small sips.

"I'll stop the bleeding and then we'll get some food in you."

Daryl washed the wound as best he could, hoping any dirt would be flushed out, and then he pressed one of the larger Band-Aids against it. The gash was neat as far as these things went and if she got stitches the scar might be barely noticeable.

Beth winced in pain and as much as that struck at Daryl, he didn't let up until he'd tied a bandage tightly around her shoulder and bicep. Between the bullet and his tugging and ripping, the shirt she was wearing was a mess.

Daryl retrieved their backpacks from the truck, which had a few new holes to brag about. There were some spare clothes in the pack and he handed Beth her pen and notebook.

"I want you to eat something if you can manage it." He had riffled around in their food supplies for a candy bar.

Beth took it without objection and started to eat, scrawling something with her other hand.

 _I'm ok_ , she insisted.

Daryl's pounding heart rate said differently but it was beginning to even out now that they weren't being shot at and now she was still alive.

 _I just want to get this blood off me_. Standing, Beth wrinkled her nose and tugged at the shirt, lifting it over her head as best she could.

Daryl passed her the wipes from the first kit and gingerly took the ruined shirt. "Should I just burn it?"

Beth was too preoccupied with cleaning herself to respond. Now that the immediate medical situation had been taken care of, perhaps this was unnecessary but Daryl found that for every bit of blood she wiped away from her skin, he could breathe easier. He did not like seeing her like that; it reminded him too much of how she'd felt in his arms, unmoving with blood streaked across her forehead.

With shaky hands, Daryl brushed hair back from Beth's face cupping her cheek in his palm. Her eyes were bright now and she was trembling against him.

Daryl started to mumble some comforting platitudes when her lips crashed into his, taking him entirely by surprise. He rocked back on to his heels, arms falling by his side as his senses were assaulted by all things Beth. Her hair against his face, the smell of her, the heat of her chest against his.

She broke the kiss and began pulling at his shirt. Overwhelmed and mind reeling, he tried to capture her wrists in his hands. "Beth, what-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence as her mouth slanted over his again, fingers tangling in his hair. Unable to think straight, he abandoned logic and leaned into her, winding his arms around her waist, feeling the curve and slopes of her body. Her skin was hot to the touch where she had scrubbed it clean. At some point his shirt had joined hers on the ground.

She kissed down his neck, nipping at his pulse point hard enough to make him gasp. Her fingers found his belt and grappled it free.

Daryl wanted nothing more in the world than to follow her lead but she'd just had a near brush with death and she was injured.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he managed to rasp, creating a few inches of space between them.

Her eyes flashed with frustration and desire. Of course she couldn't answer but she pushed him back into the chair she had been sitting in. She was stronger than Daryl expected or maybe he just hadn't wanted to put up any resistance.

Beth locked her eyes with his and then her bra fell to the ground. He couldn't summon any will to stall for time. Her pants followed soon after and then she was in his lap, using the unexpected height advantage to kiss him so thoroughly his lips burned.

She had a completely willing partner in Daryl, his fear and worry wilting away in the face of the wonder that was Beth as their adrenaline, life and need for each other urged them on.

With fumbling hands they both navigated the zip and button of his pants, impatiently pushing his underwear out of the way.

When Beth wrapped her hand around him, his head fell backward. One hand was digging tightly into Beth's thigh while the other grasped at the chair. She was completely in charge of him and Daryl would have gladly worship the ground she walked on as she slid down the length of him.

At the same time his brain registered they had bypassed foreplay completely, it assured him they would more than make up for it another time.

There was nothing romantic about the way they clutched at each other's bodies, or the urgent ebb and flow of their movements. It was simpler than that. It was primal and intense. There was love there but survival more so.

They had cheated death again and they were celebrating their aliveness in the oldest way possible.

Beth's nails dipped into the skin of his shoulders as her hips bore down on his.

It was over faster than either of them would have liked, Beth's climax dominoing into his as she moaned her pleasure against his neck.

Beth was breathing heavily, lashes damp with tears as Daryl lined her cheeks with soft, adoring kisses.

"Da-"

He froze with his mouth against her ear. He shifted back in the chair to stare at her with wide eyes.

Beth licked her lips and tried to speak again. "Daryl."

Nothing more. Just his name but it was the most perfect sound in the whole world.

…

Beth's shoulder ached and her legs were shaking as they lay on the ground. Daryl's jacket had turned into makeshift blanket. They'd been in the little hide away almost an hour now and they needed to head back to Alexandria.

But they figured they were allowed to take five minutes to process what they'd done. She was completely naked but he had his pants on. His fingers were gently tracking through her hair, occasionally brushing against the scar the bullet had left in its wake.

Beth had attempted more words after saying his name but they proved elusive. She would settle for this tiny bit of progress.

"We should go," Daryl suggested for the seventh time. Neither of them moved. Beth suspected it was because both of them knew that stepping outside would be putting them both back into danger. There was no telling where else those assholes has set up traps.

There were a few different ways to get to Alexandria but the township only had one entrance and while the trap had been rudimentary and sloppy, if their enemy had a half a brain, they'd be watching it closely.

Beth let out a low sigh. Delaying it wouldn't make the situation any better. She was reaching for her shirt when the door flung open.

Daryl scrambled for the crossbow at the same time Beth reached for her knife, knowing that whoever the intruder was they had the jump on them.

"Daryl?" the voice was more confused than aggressive and Beth quickly realised she was looking up at Aaron.

She immediately abandoned the search for her knife and instead focused on covering her body with the jacket.

"Aaron, what's going on?" A second person followed Aaron in. Beth recognised him as Heath, a scout from Alexandria. Spotting Beth for the first time, he turned his gaze immediately towards the ceiling.

Aaron was a little more taken back by the sight of the blonde to think to give either of them privacy.

"Aaron!" Daryl finally snapped.

"It's really you?" Aaron grinned. "It worked!" While Aaron's delight was obvious, Beth would've been more pleased to see him, if she was wearing underwear.

"Can we get a minute," Daryl growled, throwing his shirt on and gathering Beth's clothes.

It finally occurred to Aaron that she was naked and he had the grace to look embarrassed, taking his cue from Heath who was trying to edge out of the room while staring determinedly at the roof.

"Of course!"

Beth dressed quickly while Daryl muttered to himself. "Never gonna hear the end of _this_."

He was right. Aaron was still grinning when they finally emerged clothed. "You guys couldn't even wait to get back to Alexandria?"

Daryl glared at Aaron but he was too busy hugging Beth to see it.

Beth returned the embrace with vigour. It was strange to finally be there with someone she'd grown to know so well, who had never known her with a pulse before now. She had a million things to say to the man who had been her friend and they all sat on the tip of her tongue.

"You're even prettier in 3D," he teased, releasing her eventually.

"We were headed back to Alexandria but remember those fuckers from the attack?" Daryl interjected. "They put a tree across the road and ambushed us."

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked with concern, finally catching a glimpse of the bandage on Beth's shoulder. She nodded and squeezed his arm reassuringly.

"I should explain–Beth can't talk very much at the moment," Daryl announced with no lead in. "Side effect of being shot."

Beth wrinkled her nose at the tactless way Daryl told everyone.

"What?" Heath finally spoke, obviously perplexed by this new girl and her medical issues.

Daryl barrelled on as if Heath hadn't said anything. "We need to get inside Alexandria without being seen."

Aaron's eyebrows drew together in consideration. "I think I have a perfect way in."


	22. Chapter 22

Daryl kept a tense hand on the handle of his knife. Luckily the walker population had thinned significantly closer to Alexandria but there were still dangers in the woods and they had to be quiet.

Heath and Daryl had wrenched open the grate, which had screeched, leaving both their hands covered with rust. They'd tugged it back into place, protecting their backs.

Aaron had led the way and Beth had gone next, squeezing his elbow as she passed him. Daryl couldn't let her go without saying something and caught her fingers in his.

"Be safe," he pleaded in a raspy throat. He wanted to protect Alexandria desperately; it had become his home and sanctuary to his friends and family. But his priority was Beth and his instincts were screaming at him to throw her over his shoulder and vanish into safety.

But because she was who she was, impossibly brave and loving, there was no chance in hell she was going to go with him.

Beth managed a crooked grin that revealed her worry. She tapped him on his chest right over his heart. "Safe," she echoed.

That one word strengthened him. She had overcome a bullet, overcome death and she was still pushing forward. Beth was his inspiration and he would never let himself be less than what she deserved.

The tunnel was claustrophobic and, even though he knew it was the safest way into the cloistered town, he hated it. It bore down on him like a cage, pressing his fear up against him.

What if the Alexandrian's had decided to venture out of the walls for a scouting mission. What if it had been Rick or Carol or Michonne? The only reassurance he could conjure was that if the shit hit the fan, he would have heard it. He hoped.

"Not much further now." In the dark Aaron's voice was distant and disembodied.

"Thank god," Heath muttered from behind Daryl. He was bringing up the rear and standing close enough to Daryl that he could feel his breath on his neck. It was obvious he was freaked out so Daryl resisted the urge to swat him away.

And just as the tight space and dark threatened to drive him insane, there was light. "Thank god," Heath repeated, pushing forward to shove the gate open. It was stiff from disuse and it took both Beth and Daryl helping for them to get it open. It gave suddenly and Daryl tumbled out with Beth and Heath; he looked up at a gun pointed into his face.

…

The abrupt give of the gate sent Beth tumbling to her knees. She heard the clicking of a gun safety being turned off.

She shot to her feet, heart pounding, automatically searching for Daryl.

The gun was dropped to the ground almost as soon as it been waved in their faces.

Sasha was staring at them all in shock. Daryl was glowering at the weapon as if it personally offended him.

"What are you doing shoving a gun at us?" he spat angrily.

"You were making a lot of noise," Sasha explained evenly, attention all on Beth.

Beth couldn't say what she wanted to Sasha and the other woman appeared so stunned that she was worried it would be alarming if Beth reached for a hug.

"It was all true," Sasha mused, reaching out a hand as if to touch Beth's hair but she collected her hand back suddenly.

"We have a problem," Heath cut across, not appreciating what it meant for Sasha to see Beth.

"Has there been any scouting parties leave recently?" Aaron asked hurriedly.

Sasha lowered her eyebrows in concern. "Abraham, Glenn and Tara went out two days ago."

Beth's breath latched in her chest. Glenn.

"They're not due back for a few days yet," Sasha added.

"That's good," Daryl said, not sounding like he believed it for a second. "If they're not due back yet then there's no reason to think anything went wrong."

 _Unless it did_ , Beth thought in panic.

"We need to find Deanna and Rick now," Aaron insisted.

"I'll get Rick," Sasha volunteered. "We'll meet at Deanna's house."

There was no time for discussion and Sasha took off running.

Despite having spent months in Alexandria following Daryl around, her sense of direction was obliterated being there in person. Perhaps it was concern for her loved ones or the assault on her senses but it was disorientating.

Luckily Aaron took the lead. Daryl stayed by her side even though he could easily out pace her in her current state. There was fire in her lungs and pain shooting up through her stomach into her ribs. Exhaustion bore down on her and she wished she could sleep for days but instead she knew a fight was brewing; one she couldn't afford to sit out.

Aaron reached the house first and was already calling for Deanna before his foot hit that first step. The door flew open and Deanna rushed out followed closely by her son Spencer. A third person appeared in the doorway behind them. Maggie.

The impact of seeing her sister again, back in her own body, caused Beth to slump against the stair railing.

Maggie spotted her and tears rolled down her face as she dashed down the stairs to Beth, gathering her up in an embrace that squeezed Beth against her.

She pushed back Beth's long blond hair, touching her face gently. "I-" Maggie started to say but couldn't finish, sobs overcoming her.

While their emotional reunion played out, Aaron and Daryl were explaining the dire situation. Beth wiped at her eyes and forced herself to pay attention. She would have her chance to reunite with Maggie properly but that would be shadowed if any harm came to Glenn. He was as much a part of her family as Maggie was and the father of the impending addition.

Rick joined them with Sasha and Michonne just as Deanna asked Heath to get more guards on the wall and let the inhabitants know of the danger outside. Rick slung a hasty arm around Beth and gave her a quick but fierce hug before turning to the others.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, not letting Beth's resurrection deter him from the current emergency.

"Those monsters are trying to cut off our way in and out," Deanna surmised, teeth gritted and eyes steely.

"Glenn's out there with Tara and Abraham," Maggie reminded him quietly.

"We have to fight them," Rick decided without hesitation. This gave Deanna more pause. She wasn't as ready or willing to jump straight to violence but she remembered all too clearly what had happened the last time they breached the walls. It had been a blood bath.

Eventually, she nodded, lending her support to the plan.

"We have the advantage of surprise," Sasha offered.

"They don't know we weren't warned?" Deanna countered.

Daryl shook his head. "I reckon they think we were scared off. They're dangerous and that's for certain but I don't get the sense they're that smart."

Beth shook her head hoping it conveyed that she agreed with Daryl. Maggie watched her intently, Daryl already having quietly explained that she wasn't able to speak properly. It had never been more frustrating than it was now.

"Then we have time to prepare?" Aaron suggested.

Rick shifted from one foot to the other. "We don't. Glenn and the others could be back early."

"And what happens when they get tired of waiting for us to come to them and try and attack the town again?" Michonne asked calmly. Her poise in a crisis was enviable but Beth saw the way her hand kept reaching for the tip of her sword, as if to remind herself it was there.

"We have to get rid of them then," Deanna agreed with a sigh.

"We have to eradicate them completely," Rick corrected, locking eyes with Deanna and challenging her to disagree with him. She winced but offered no arguments.

"We'll need everyone who can fight at the armoury within the hour," Rick announced to the group, taking charge of the situation. "Volunteers only but the more the better."

"Some people aren't going to like this," Michonne murmured to him and Beth's mind went straight to Morgan and Gabriel.

"They don't have to like it but they stay the hell out of our way."

…

"No fucking way," Daryl snarled and grabbed the gun from Beth's hand. She immediately tried to wrest it back from him. When it looked like his strength was going to win the tug-a-war, Beth stamped on his foot.

"Ow!"

 _I'm going to help_!

The note was practically shoved into his face.

"No you're not," he contradicted, temper flaring.

Beth pushed the same note at him, reiterating her thoughts on the matter.

"No!" Daryl snapped. "You can barely stand."

Beth rolled her eyes but she wasn't fooling him. He'd seen the fine tremor in her fingers that had slowly spread into her arms and legs. She was still standing but for how long was anyone's guess. So he was putting his foot down and she was furious at that. Her discontent unsettled him but he knew that she would risk life and limb to save Glenn with no regard to her own safety. Seeing the fear underlying her glare, he softened his expression.

"Adrenaline will only get you so far," he counselled gently. "And I'm gonna to be worried about you and that'll be distracting."

His logic was hard to argue with and she tugged weakly on his shirt, conveying her helplessness. She wanted so badly to be useful. He wanted her so badly to stay alive.

Daryl brushed a stray curl away from her face and ran his thumb across the scar in her forehead.

"We need people in the guard tower," he offered, still not completely happy with the compromise but knowing what it would mean to her. "If any of them get too close to the walls or if we have trouble with walkers."

Beth inhaled deeply and held it while she considered his proposal before nodding.

"Safe." One word, one instruction.

He signalled his intention to obey her request by kissing her hard and swift on the mouth.

Someone cleared their throat loudly and they sprung apart to see who the intruder was.

Carl was standing there with a shit-eating grin. "Dad says we have to leave now."

"Couldn't have waited a minute longer?" Daryl grumbled to disguise the way his heart was racing.

"Hi Beth," Carl sung, clearly his awe at seeing a dead girl return to life was overshadowed by his sheer glee at catching Daryl kissing her. She waved at him, blushing a little.

Daryl was glad at least someone was having fun though he wished it wasn't at his expense.

"I'll meet you there," Daryl informed him and when Carl didn't leave, Beth gave the young man a firm shove away from them.

As soon as they had some privacy, Daryl grasped both of Beth's arms, mindful to avoid her injury. "Be careful. Don't waste your ammo and if you get in any trouble, don't be a hero. Run and hide."

The tilt of her head told him she thought he was being over-protective but he didn't care. He had more words of advice but she cut him off by rising on to her tip toes and kissing him, softly and sweetly.

It took all his will to walk away from her and meet up with Carl, whose good humour had been stolen away the closer they got to the gate. They were fighting to protect their own but a fight inevitably meant that people would die.

…

It was tempting to keep her gun clutched in her hands and pointed out but Beth knew that not only did she have to conserve her ammo but she had to ration her physical strength.

So she kept the gun at her side and kept her eyes trained on the landscape below her.

Maggie had stopped short of aiming her gun but she still had it resting in her arms, fingers clenched so tightly around the weapon that her knuckles were turning white.

Beth couldn't blame her. It had taken a lot of negotiation from Rick and Michonne to convince Maggie to sit this one out. She couldn't afford to risk herself with a baby on the way but Beth also understood how difficult her sister found it, knowing Glenn was out there and possibly in danger.

She could feel it herself. This irritating urge sitting inside her chest, telling her she should have run after Daryl–that she still could. Beth pushed that nagging, unhelpful voice aside. In her current state she would be more hindrances than help.

There was a third person on their section of the wall. Deanna had surprised them all by joining them. As the leader of the town, no one wanted to risk losing her but as she had explained in a clipped tone, she couldn't just hide in her house while other people risked their life to keep the town safe.

Beth wasn't certain what her aim would be like, but it wasn't exactly like she could judge herself. Beth had never been the best of shots and now she couldn't even hold the gun for more than a few minutes at a time. She was praying that adrenaline would serve if she was forced to defend the town.

She also spared a thought for her father and his farewell message. Beth hadn't found the time to share that moment with Maggie yet. She didn't want to distract her sister from the task at hand and honestly, Beth wasn't certain she could recount it without tears.

The three women stood in near silence, waiting on the edge of a cliff, not knowing if they'd be forced to take a leap or if everything would go smoothly and they could look forward to celebrating.

Beth believed in the abilities of every person who had gone to protect them. Daryl's aim was second to none and he would go to the ends of the earth to protect his loved ones. Michonne was the calm of a storm and Sasha was its fury, both able to inflict so much damage. Rick was uncompromising on anything that posed a threat to his family. All of these people who she cared so deeply about putting themselves in danger. The worry etched into, creeping all the way down into the cracks of her bones.

"They'll be ok," Deanna said suddenly, breaking the silence.

The Greene sisters nodded, tight-lipped. They wanted for her to be right but it was too soon to get their hopes up. Beth was almost positive that when the fight truly began, they'd be able to hear it. Gunshots tended to carry.

If everything went according to plan, the remaining guard wouldn't have to do anything more than open the door. If it went badly then they were the second rung of defence. And even if no human assailants made their way to the town, then there was a good chance the noise would attract walkers from all around. Beth hoped they could pick them off as they came to investigate and keep the numbers around the town small.

The quiet was starting to become unbearable and Beth was considering asking Deanna some questions about Alexandria that Maggie's newly rediscovered sister might want to know if she hadn't spent the last few months lurking around as a ghost. Her free hand absently tapped at the notebook she'd tucked into her pocket.

But the first pops of weapons ran through the trees. It was eerie – they were far enough away to almost be confused for some other noise. And then a small flock of crows flew overhead, cawing in distress.

The three women exchanged tense glances before turning their attention back to the surrounds. Both Maggie and Deanna sighted down their weapons, ready to spring into action. Beth compromised by lifting the gun up, using the wall to support it as much as possible. Her heart was the loudest noise she could hear. Each thud was felt and vibrated into her body, making her fingers tremble with apprehension.

From there it got worse. Guns were spitting out bullets, some were closer to Alexandria than others. There were now human cries on the wind. Their last screams of a life were snatched and disseminated in the air until they reached Beth's ears.

She hardened herself to them but despite knowing that these people meant harm and likely deserved their fate, Beth could never bring herself to enjoy suffering or violence. There was also no guarantee that her people weren't the ones dying in pain.

Beth sucked in a harsh breath, blinking to keep her eyes clear. There was a rustle in the trees to their right. As if they all shared one brain, Alexandria's guards swivelled to point their weapons in that direction.

A solitary walker emerged, looking around in confusion. The guns were echoing and the exact point of origin was unclear, especially to a walker. The strong metal walls of the town served to reflect the sound.

Having discussed what to do, the guards stayed very still, not firing on the creature who looked almost pitiful to Beth – like a lost, if completely rabid, dog. Maggie had her hand held up in a stopping motion so that it could be seen by the other guards. She was telling them not to shoot yet.

Just one walker posed very little threat to returning fighters but if they shot it, they ran the risk of attracting more to the town, rather than to the fight where the chaos would be welcome.

Too stupid to look up and unable to use critical thought the walker slunk around in the bramble for a few more minutes before lumbering off in the opposite direction when a new round of gunshots proved more enticing.

"This is just the beginning," Maggie muttered under her breath and Beth agreed with her.

It only took another five minutes for more walkers to appear and this time in numbers that were harder to ignore. There were at least twenty of them milling around and Beth's pity had vanished. The guards were still careful to stay quiet and no one would shoot until they got the ok to shoot from Maggie. But this herd of walkers wasn't moving on and they were growing in numbers.

The Alexandrian's knew that when they finally engaged them, they'd have to work hard to spread them out. The walkers' collective weight could do some serious damage, especially if they decided to push up against the sections of the wall that had been damaged by the truck. The repairs were good but Beth would prefer if they were never tested in perilous circumstances.

When another ten walkers made their way out of the trees, Beth grabbed at Maggie's elbow, hoping her question was clear.

Maggie rubbed anxiously at her forehead, though her eyes were steely. "I know. I don't want to bring more in before they come home. But I also have no way of knowing when they'll head back."

Someone swore, loudly and then there was the bang of something scraping against metal and a thud.

"What in the world?" Deanna hissed, straining to see down their ranks of defenders. Someone had lost grip of their gun and it had tumbled, loudly, to the ground. The walkers began ambling towards the weapon and as addled as their minds were, it was enough to make them look up. They could see the pale, nervous faces of the guards and a ripple spread amongst them. It wasn't just movement, it was food.

Almost three years of dodging death had honed Beth's instincts and she sensed it was now or never. She hoisted her gun, training it on the walkers and waited for Maggie's instructions.

"Take the time to aim," Maggie instructed curtly even though Beth knew better and Deanna probably couldn't aim that well regardless. "We have that in our favour at least."

And then Maggie squeezed the trigger, turning the skull of a walker to mush.

Beth inhaled and exhaled to steady her hands. She could only hope Daryl was alright and that he was headed in her direction. Joining her sister, she began picking off walkers.

…

Holding his arm to his chest, Daryl heard the bullets and winced. It was coming from Alexandria and it meant they'd been forced into the fray in some capacity.

"Don't stop moving," Tara shouted at him while Michonne gave him a fairly solid push squarely in the back.

The people were dead but the noise had a hell of a lot of walkers swarming in around them. They were rolling in in numbers that were concerning Daryl. They had better odds if they tried to outpace them and didn't get stuck fighting out in the open.

Daryl grunted to acknowledge this advice and picked up his feet, trying to force himself not to jump to the worst case scenario and what it meant for Beth.

His head was spinning and he had no idea how much blood he'd lost. One of those freaking assholes had snuck up on him and managed to open his arm from wrist to elbow with their blade. Since he'd been aiming for Daryl's face, he considered it an acceptable trade off. But he wished he hadn't been in a situation where his only option was to throw up his arm to protect himself.

His attacker had been pretty swiftly tackled to the ground by Abraham and pummelled to an incoherent pulp before a bullet from Sasha had put him out of his misery. Luckily, Glenn, Tara and Abraham had gotten wise to the trap pretty quickly and were waiting it out until they'd heard the sounds of a fight.

Tara had hastened to help him, pulling off the flannel shirt she'd worn over her T-shirt and wrapping it tightly around his arm to stem the bleeding a bit. Daryl knew from experience that it would need stitches but it wasn't life threating.

He'd had to give up his crossbow though which grated. Glenn had used it enough times that he could effectively wield the weapon now while Daryl settled for his knife, clumsily slashing about with one hand.

Rick had always stated they needed to work with speed because the noise would attract walkers and that would be more dangerous.

A grim satisfaction sat inside him as he ran; at the very least they'd laid waste to the enemies with a beating heart. It was still jarring, even after so many years of living like this, that killing people could bring a foul taste to his mouth but still leave him content. Maybe it was his light head or the aching in his arm but he couldn't bring himself to wrestle with the moral quandary. He had one driving motivator and that was Beth.

Daryl wanted to reunite with her and destroy anything that was still posing a threat, one-handed if he had to.

At some point he became aware that Aaron was at his side, a guiding hand on his elbow. Daryl was finding the uneven ground a burden in his current state, tripping over his own feet as he ran. Over his ragged breathing, he could hear Aaron cursing the decision not to bring vehicles.

Daryl didn't blame him one bit but thought it might be hypocrisy if he complained too, considering he'd advocated for a silent, stealthy approach over the convenience of transport. Aaron had left someone he loved inside those walls too – Eric's ankle still gave him trouble and so Rick had sternly suggested he stay on the walls as a guard. Aaron's forehead had softened with relief even as Eric's jaw tensed when he realised he wouldn't be at Aaron's side when the shit hit the fan.

Their steady pace and determination was creating a gap between the living and the dead. The gate was in sight but to Daryl's dismay there was a large group of walkers separating them from getting in.

His clenched the knife in his sweaty palm, fingers hurting with the effort to hold it close. There were Alexandrians on the other side of the bars, stabbing effectively and relentlessly at the walkers that were close enough. Morgan, who had objected to killing humans, had no such compunctions when it came to walkers and was wielding his staff with deadly accuracy. But the arrival of a new group of people attracted the attention of those walkers, who lunged out of reach of the guards and in the direction of the exhausted new comers.

Daryl chanced a glance over his shoulder and heard rather than saw the second wave of walkers encroaching. They had a few minutes at best.

"Daryl!"

His name shouted in warning was the only notice he got before a walker rounded on him, surging teeth first towards his face. Daryl shoved his booted foot into the walker's stomach to create some distance but it was sloppy and only bought him seconds before the decayed creature staggered at him once more. Daryl raised his knife, ready to strike, when there was a loud pop and the walkers head exploded.

A fine spray of old blood and other things coated his face. Clearing his sight, he spotted Maggie with her gun aimed in his direction. Assuming she was his saviour, he saluted her. Killing the walker and missing him was no mean feat. Beth was by her side, face contorted in fear but she kept her weapon pointed steadily at the incoming hoard.

The mere sight of her sent shock waves through his system. He was fighting for her, for what he felt about her.

Drawing on renewed stores of energy, Daryl lashed out at any walkers that dared to venture within his range. He ignored the pain in his arm as best he could, inching ever closer to their escape. His hearing was going to hell, between the shouts of fear and the constant crack of gun shots as the cavalry watched their backs.

He was stuck in a silent horror movie; even the throaty groans of the walkers were swallowed up by the ringing in his ears. His focus and attention tunnelled until all he could see was the next walker to kill and nothing else.

Something latched onto the back of his shirt and Daryl spun to dispose of whatever had grabbed him but frantic hands intercepted the swing. Carl was the one who had grabbed him and he was saying something but what, Daryl was damned if he knew.

He muttered sorry a dozen times at Carl, unsure if he was actually saying the word since he couldn't hear it pass his lips. Realising Daryl wasn't getting what he was saying, Carl was just tugging on him. Panic evading his systems, he couldn't fight with Carl in the way and he struggled against him – not wanting to hurt the teenager but needing to protect them both all the same.

Arms wound around his shoulders tightly, forcing the knife to his side and a hiss of pain to escape. The pressure on his injury brought the sting back in a rush. The hold on him wasn't strong but it was enough to give him pause. The arms were slim and pale and awfully familiar. There was a faded pink scar across the left wrist.

Beth. He stopped struggling in that instant to Carl's obvious relief. He spoke over Daryl's shoulder and the hold on him was released and Beth was filling his vision. Concern was etched into her features as she pushed back his tangled hair and forced him to meet her eyes.

It really was Beth. Blinking rapidly and trying to restore some sense of sanity to his battle riddled brain. He was past the threshold of Alexandria and the gates were shut behind them. There were a few corpses on the inside but they were clearly walkers. They were still engaging the walkers as they swarmed against the metal bars, biting and squeezing in an attempt to get at their prey, but the frenzy had settled in favour of repetitive precision.

The guns had also stopped and the ringing in his ears began to recede into blurry static. Denise suddenly replaced Beth much to Daryl's annoyance but when Denise carefully began unwrapping Tara's shirt, now dark and stiff with his blood, he bit down any protests. He'd be no good to Beth if he succumbed to infection or blood loss.

"We'll need to stitch this up," Denise assessed with a tongue cluck.

"Still got stuff to do," Daryl grunted gesturing behind him and the slowly diminishing walker presence. He swayed on his feet and only Denise and Beth kept him upright.

As if sensing his difficulty, Carol materialised at his side to scold him. She had a bruise swelling on her jaw and a streak of blood above her eyebrow but otherwise she seemed unhurt.

"We have this well in hand," she told him firmly. "You go with Beth before you pass out and we're forced to drag you to the clinic."

Grumbling but suitably chastened, he allowed himself to be led towards to the make shift hospital. He was letting Beth take more of his weight than he would care to admit and he felt like a prick because she wasn't fully healed herself. Maybe she was struggling obviously because after a few paces Gabriel appeared from nowhere to take Beth's place supporting him.

Daryl was dully surprised to see the priest had his sleeves rolled up and a gun slung across his back. He knew the other man didn't much care for violence, especially in excess, but he'd clearly done his bit for the safety of the community.

To his surprise, Beth thanked the man quietly. Her voice soothed some of the spiky energy out of his system. Her hand stayed warm and firm against his lower back. Between the two of them, they got him across the threshold of the clinic before black spots filled his vision and his knees gave way. He heard both Beth and Denise cry his name before Daryl crumbled to the floor.

…

There wasn't enough room by his bedside so Beth was forced to wait in the main living area. She picked at her nails while she worried. Denise had spared a few seconds to assure her that Daryl had just fainted and he would be fine with some rest. Beth was heart sick all the same. Her frayed nerves were tired of people she loved getting hurt. It happened far too often for her liking.

Her foot bounced with barely repressed anxiety but she was frozen in the chair, as if she could stop time by sitting there, buying him precious minutes to recover.

Beth had already sent word to Maggie through Tara, who had stopped by to greet Denise with a warm hug that stretched into intimate, that she was alright and that she would be with Daryl if her sister needed her. Eric had come by to check on her when the defences had winded down and to give her an update. A number of injuries but no one dead which was amazing news in of itself.

Eric had attempted to distract her with a few jokes, including taking her pulse. But when her tears had shrouded her eyes, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and sat with her in silence. Beth appreciated the comfort and the reassurance of his familiar, calm presence.

Eric had just dozed off at her side, reddish-blond hair sticking up at hilarious angles, when Denise remerged. She had dark circles under her eyes from exhaustion but she was smiling.

"I told you he'd be fine. He really wants to go home though."

"Is that ok?" Beth asked in a stilted voice, speaking almost as much effort as pushing to her feet.

Denise arched her eyebrow at Beth. "You try arguing with him when he's feeling stubborn."

Beth could relate so she merely nodded.

"I don't want to make any… assumptions but if someone could stay with him overnight that would be best."

Denise avoided looking at Beth then and Eric tried to cover a not so subtle snort. Beth couldn't help but roll her eyes. In all fairness though, as well as she knew Denise, Denise didn't know her at all. As far as she was aware, she was Maggie's miracle sister returned less than 24 hours ago.

The awkwardness of the room was defused when Daryl entered. He was still covered in blood and the fatigue was obvious in the stoop of his shoulders but colour had already returned to his face. Beth hurried to his side. She resisted the temptation to throw her arms around his neck because she didn't want to jostle his new injury and in all honesty, her own arm had started to ache as well.

Instead, Beth pressed a light kiss to his cheek and was gratified when he blushed a little. Denise passed them a small bottle.

"Pain killers for the pair of you. Should help you get some sleep."

"All I want is a shower," Daryl grunted and Beth agreed entirely. Sweat, dirt and Daryl's blood clung to her skin and there was a tightness between her shoulder blades.

They walked back to the house Daryl shared with Rick, Carl and Michonne in silence. The desire to say something burned in the back of Beth's throat but she found that she was effectively mute again. Her relief at Daryl's survival tempered the frustration. Her voice was returning slowly and that was enough for now.

There were sounds of celebration a few streets away. There was nothing quite like the exhilaration of being alive despite the odds.

The house was dark and silent when they arrived, the other occupants likely at the party. Beth was relieved, it was nice to have this time with Daryl.

Beth helped Daryl to the bathroom and made to leave to give him some privacy but a hand on her wrist stopped her.

"You may as well stay," he murmured. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you probably need the shower as much as I do."

Beth's mouth dropped open and she laughed despite herself. His personality had survived the fight. The chuckle eased something inside of her chest and her throat.

"Since you fainted," she managed, "I'll give you a pass."

His eyes flickered at the sound of her voice, the corner of his mouth tilting upwards. "I don't faint!" he objected weakly to which Beth shook her head.

Daryl fumbled as he attempted to undo his belt and divest himself of his weapons. Shaking her head, Beth intervened.

She deftly conquered the buckle and turned her attention to the buttons on his shirt. Daryl stood there placidly and allowed her to undress him.

Each inch of his skin that she revealed, alleviated the knots that had wound into Beth like barbed wire. The slash on his arm was awful but his only injury. Denise had considerately covered it with waterproof bandaging.

The water was warm as it tumbled over them, Daryl leaned heavily against the side of the tiles, too tired to be concerned about modesty. Beth for her part just wanted to see the blood off of him and washed it away with whatever toiletries she could get her hands on.

"I'm gonna smell like a strawberry," Daryl complained half-heartedly as he pushed himself onto his feet, standing more steadily. Beth was pleased to see the painkillers doing their job. The bandage didn't quite disguise the ridge of black stitching or the brownish stain of his blood.

"Poor you," Beth managed, trying to sound appropriately sympathetic and failing.

Daryl reached for her, "Come here."

Beth went willingly, wrapping her arms around his waist while his snaked around her shoulders. She pressed her face against his chest, breathing him in and relishing in the beat of his heart against her skin.

"You got blood in your hair," Daryl observed idly.

"Ugh," Beth groaned, but she wasn't ready to relinquish her embrace.

Daryl moved against her, muscles pulling tight as he reached for something with his good arm.

Then fingers carded through her hair, massaging her scalp. He was washing her hair.

Beth tilted her head back so she could see him better. He was concentrating as if it were a task of monumental importance, handling her gently and sweetly. Beth tucked herself back against him, grinning broadly.

"Stop movin'," he chided softly.

Beth hummed in approval as Daryl's careful fingers untangled her hair which was longer than she could remember.

"There," he announced in ragged voice. "All clean."

Beth inched away from her hunter, and stared up at him with eyes that were laden with love and emotion. His dripping hair hung across his face. Beth pushed it behind his ear.

"Thank you."

Under the intensity of her gaze, Daryl started to shift with embarrassment but Beth chased that expression away when she came to her tip toes and kissed him.

For a long stretch of time there was nothing but the press of their lips and the deluge of water around their bodies. The temperature was shifting from hot to lukewarm; a clear sign they'd been in the shower too long.

With reluctance, Daryl broke away from her long enough to shut off the water and then he was slanting his mouth over hers once more. He had rested his hands on her hips, still so gently, holding her against him.

Her heart beat was slamming in Beth's ribs, an almost laughable contrast to the calm that was on her face and that had travelled through her body. They towelled off in a silence which wasn't uncomfortable but was weighted.

Beth had been drawn to him from the second they'd set fire to that house and in doing so, his past. But now she could feel the pull to him as if they were both magnets.

Daryl led the way to his attic room, the first time Beth had been there with a pulse. She stumbled on the stairs and both of them laughed breathlessly as they tumbled into the room.

They found their way back into each other's arms instantly and it was Daryl's turn to smooth Beth's hair back from her face. He leaned into her space and inhaled deeply.

"Better?" Beth asked, alluding to his comment before the shower that she'd smelled less than amazing. She was trying to sound teasing but there was a raspy quality to her voice that had nothing to do with her injury and everything to do with the way Daryl affected her.

"Before, you never smelt like anything."

"What?"

"I could kinda remember but it was never right. Like you were a reflection. Now I remember."

He was studying her closely, like he was trying to memorise her. It made her almost self-conscious, she was far from perfect these days with a few dozen extra scars.

"I didn't think I'd get you back." His words broke and Beth grasped at his hand. There was a small scar in the shape of a circle where he'd burned himself.

"I'm here," she reassured him. Her fingers brushed against the mark the bullet had left in her forehead. "Not in one piece though." She wished she hadn't said that, she didn't want to come across as pitiful.

"It's overrated," he dismissed, pulling her fingers away and kissing the memory of her death.

Then his lips were against hers once more and thought fell second to sensation. The towels stayed in place for moments before they tumbled to the ground, dislodged by the need of their bodies pulling together.

They'd been in a rush the first time they made love, there had been no time to savour it or take their time.

Now they had all the time in the world. Both tired and sore, they explored each other slowly, all the more perfect because of it.

Beth found her voice with Daryl's mouth between her thighs. And when he pushed inside her and she wrapped her legs around his hips it was like coming home. Their breathy moans became each other's names, whispered with the reverence of a prayer.

Beth's nails raked down his back as he moved against her, kissing and nipped at her neck. Time lost its meaning and stars glittered in front of her eyes as Beth built to her second climax. It burned through her like a fiery wave, warming her from her toes to her cheeks.

Daryl cupped her cheek and pressed his forehead against her as Beth gasped and recreated herself into one being as opposed to a million electrified nerve endings.

"You're beautiful," he sighed against her mouth.

Beth tilted her hips up to meet his, fingers tingling and legs shaking. His rhythm was becoming discrepant, his grip on her tightening.

Beth was completely overwhelmed and uncertain how much more pleasure one person could take when Daryl shifted position slightly, sitting back on his heels so that he could see her laid out before him. His skilled fingers found where they were joined, found that sensitive spot just above and sent Beth spiralling into incoherent bliss. Daryl cursed fluently before collapsing forward taking his weight on his elbows. He grimaced slightly from the jolt to his arm but he made no move to get off her.

Beth was breathing heavily, eyes closed as her body shuddered in the pleasant aftermath. With great effort they rearranged into a sweaty tangle of limbs that didn't put any pressure on their respective injuries.

"I love you, y'know," Daryl mumbled into her hair.

Beth clutched his hand so it rested just below her breasts on her abdomen. "I love you too."

…

"You sure you'll be alright?" Maggie asked for the four hundredth time and Beth fought the urge to roll her eyes at her sister. She knew she was just worried. After all it was the first time they were leaving Josephine alone for the night. Glenn was a little more comfortable than Maggie, but he waited patiently while his wife stared after their baby who was no longer present.

Daryl had scooped the baby out of Maggie's arms and disappeared into the house leaving a trail of baby talk in his wake. Beth was equally amused and moved by his surprising, affectionate ease with infants.

"We'll be fine!" Beth insisted. "You two need a night to yourselves."

"A whole night of uninterrupted sleep," Glenn crowed and clapped his hands together. Maggie smiled at his antics and took her first step backwards. Both Glenn and Beth seized upon this movement and Glenn led her down the steps while Beth called a hasty good bye and shut the door.

She deposited the bag of baby supplies on the table and went to find where Daryl had disappeared to with their niece.

Most houses in Alexandria were identical but Beth felt particularly fond of this one because it was hers; hers and Daryl's. She found him in the garage, lovingly describing all the parts of his bike in a voice she never heard him use with an adult.

"- and when you're bigger I'll teach you to ride too."

"Maggie will try and stop you," Beth pointed out from her spot against the door frame.

"In secret then," Daryl qualified to the baby who smiled, unable to understand but delighted by the familiar person speaking to her.

"Are you going to let me hold her at all?" Beth knew full well how much Daryl liked babies but he made a futile attempt to maintain his gruff façade.

"Just being helpful, we got guests coming after all."

"Uh huh," Beth said dryly.

Daryl looked at her and shot her a smile so bright it made butterflies flutter inside her belly. The last year together hadn't always been smooth sailing in terms of general safety or even their relationship. There had been teething issues and misunderstandings but they'd overcome them all. Beth had watched layer after layer of defensiveness Daryl had built up around him, fall away.

"Who's coming around?" Daryl asked, tucking Josephine in a little tighter. Her little hand curled around his pinkie finger.

"Just the usual suspects. Eric, Aaron, Denise and Tara. Tara says she found a bottle of tequila on the latest run."

"I can't drink," Daryl all but spluttered. "We're looking after Jo."

"Of course not," Beth agreed with forced seriousness. Daryl had been Josephine's protective shadow almost as soon as she was born but Beth still found it adorable.

There was a loud knock and the small bubble of peace was broken.

"I'll get that," Daryl said, starting to move past her.

"So I can have Jo?" Beth asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes, knowing the answer already.

Daryl bent to kiss her lightly. "Later."

Beth chuckled and followed him up into the living room to greet their friends, happier than she'd ever been in her life.

The End

 **AN: Thanks to everyone for following along and reviewing. I hope you enjoyed the story.**

 **MD666**


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